


Power Rangers: Final Frontier

by SeeTheGuyPerson



Category: Power Rangers
Genre: Action, Breaking the Fourth Wall, IN SPACE!, Mecha, Strong Language, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 02:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14558763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeeTheGuyPerson/pseuds/SeeTheGuyPerson
Summary: 150 years has passed since the Federation liberated the Galaxy from the tyranny of the First Empire of Terra. Power Rangers are now seen as near common place, serving as everything from first responders to military specialists. Wars are almost a thing of the past, poverty is down immeasurably, and diplomatic relations with alien races are beyond promising.For James Klein, youngest recruit into the Earth's Ranger Program, life could get no better than this.But what if the Empire was not totally destroyed?What if this was all part of the Emperors plan?What if your own friends, ones you thought you could trust your life to, turned out to be traitors?James is far from qualified, but he has no choice but to become a Power Ranger.





	1. Prologue

"Alright, everyone! This is our first in-void mission. Some researchers at the Lunar University requested assistance after sighting yet another monster. I don't want bathroom duty, so no screwing up!"

James Klein, the Blue Ranger and youngest recruit to be accepted to the Ranger Program, laughed at Kyle the Red Rangers comment. He turned on his communicator, "Don't worry, Kyle! The Klein brothers are here, so if anything happens we blame you!"

"Don't drag me into this, James." Chris, the Green Ranger and James' brother responded over the coms, "I'm not responsible for you anymore."

"Lighten up, Chris! Kid's proved himself!" Amanda, the Pink Ranger, spoke up.

"Can we get back to the mission, please?" Haley, the Yellow Ranger, asked, "I really don't want bathroom duty."

"Alright, fine." Kyle responded, "Form the Andromeda Megazord!"

James smirked, he always liked this part.

Kyle's Red Carrier Zord, a massive flying fortress of docks and armour, split in half, the front forming the waist and back forming the chest and shoulders.

James' Blue Fighter Zord, an atmospheric and void jet about half the size of the Carrier, folded in its wings and rotated the cockpit, forming the right arm. Haley's Yellow Crawler Zord, a treaded survey vehicle, broke off from the Carrier, lifting its cockpit to form the right leg. Chris's Green Shuttle Zord, similar in design and aesthetic to the old space shuttles, also folded its cockpit and wings, making the left leg. Amanda's Pink Runner Zord, a car shaped tank with six wheels, collapsed in its wheels to its sides, rotating the front to form the left arm. The five vehicles flew in formation through space, slowly moving towards each other. After the connections were made with the distinctive hiss, the Andromeda Megazord stood upright.

The Megazord floated down to the surface of the Moon near the Lunar University. Oddly, no sign of some giant monster was present.

"Command, we don't see anything here. Should we disengage?" Kyle asked over the coms.

"Negative, Rangers." Commands voice echoed over the radio, "Scan the University. It may have camouflage abilities."

"On it." Amanda raised the Megazords arm, cockpit screen showing a detailed schematic of the university, "Scanning... hmm... The scan indicates there's no sign of life here at all, not even those researchers."

"That is odd. Report back to base, a dedicated rescue team will be sent."

"Well, that was disappointing." Haley commented.

"Hey, at least we got to go to the Moon!" Chris said.

The team made it to just outside the Earths atmosphere when Commands voice came on the coms again.

"Ranger team, we're picking up something in atmosphere... wait, hold on... no... RANGERS, GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Wha-" Kyle's voice was cut off as a plasma shell ripped across the Andromeda Megazords front. The motionless robot drifted for a few minutes, various fires burning kept alive by the heat and fuel in spite of the void of space.

James recovered from unconsciousness first. He put his hand over his temple to ease his blurred vision. When he recovered from that, he talked over the Megazords radio. "Chris! Kyle! Amanda! Haley, are you there!?"

His voice was only met with static. He undid his safety straps and floated from his seat. He grabbed the med-kit behind him, the stripe down the top of his helmet shifting to a white with a red cross, and made his way to the entrance to the Red Zord.

"Kyle!? Are you here? Are you-" James stopped when he saw the inside of the Red Zord. The main control room for the Megazord was destroyed, no amount of repair could bring it back. But the worst was Kyle himself. Kyle's body was mangled almost beyond recognition, various pipes and molten beams impaled and fused him to his seat. Nothing could be done.

"Oh, God..."

James floated past the grisly sight toward the Pink Zord.

"Amanda?" he asked. He heard nothing. He peeked in through the porthole, hoping against reason to see nothing wrong.

Amanda was drifting about the cabin, grasping at her throat. The visor on her helmet was cracked and an opening was just above her face, her long brown hair floating out of it. James rushed over to her, but when he saw her face he felt his chest contract violently. Her expression was that of panic and desperation, frozen by the vacuum at the exact moment of her death.

James went to the Yellow Zord next, only imagining the worst possible scenario.

"Haley! Haley, are you okay?" he asked trying to open the sealed hatch to the Zord.

Haley floated up in the porthole, and James sighed heavily.

"Oh, thank God! Look we need to get you out of here and get to Chris, he needs help!" James pleaded, struggling with the hatch, "Haley! Can you hear me?"

Haley drifted up, revealing her lower half and left arm was severed from her and was still buckled to her seat. Her windshield collapsed inward, the jagged glass cutting her in half as she was strapped down to her chair.

James looked away, his eyes burned and his throat was sore from holding back tears.

Chris had to be okay. The plasma shell went across the Megazord from the right foot to the left arm, leaving Chris and James relatively unharmed. That had to be the case.

James wasted no time in getting to Chris's Green Zord. Through the porthole, James could see Chris struggling to unfasten his safety harness with one hand while clasping his other onto a rip in his Ranger uniform.

"Chris! You're okay!" James burst through the hatch and flew over to Chris. "I'm gonna get you out of here!"

"What about... the others...?" Chris paused in between each breath as his suit leaked oxygen.

"Not important right now! Now help me get you out of here!"

Chris tried his best to help his little brother, but his vision was fading. He happened to look up over Jame's shoulder and his heart stopped. There was a fuel leak, the fluid taking on a glob shape in the zero gravity, and was being shot slowly toward a sparking control panel.

"James... stop... you need... to go..." Chris grabbed James with what little strength he had left.

James held onto Chris's armrest, "No! Not without you!"

Chris didn't even listen. He pried James loose and threw him over to the open escape pod, launching it from his pilots seat.

"See ya... on the Morphing Grid..."

James spun wildly until the escape pod steadied itself. "No no no no! Chris!"

The Megazord exploded, ripping itself to pieces before the remnants burned up upon reentry.

"CHRIS!!!"

Back on Earth, a special response unit approached the door to the orbital defensive turret that fired the shot. They breached the door, surprised it wasn't locked. They searched the room, looking for the culprit, but it was empty. They went to the actual gunners position higher in the construct, only to find the gunner dead.

Not from a wound.

The gunner laid on the floor, eyes glazed over, foam dripping from his mouth.

He took a cyanide pill.

 


	2. Chapter 2

(5 years later)

The Federation Power Ranger Academy was alive with the sounds of training and sparing. Commander Aurora stood on the observation balcony over the field the candidates as they fought and trained. She had shoulder length silver hair, perfectly straightened from extensive care, and her face didn't show her age. Her grey toned uniform boasted several medals and trinkets. She surveyed the new recruits, a few of whom in particular.

"Lieutenant, tell me who those recruits are." she said with authority.

The man behind her right opened a small data pad and scrolled through the names.

"Elizabeth Farland. Technical genius, excelled in every test, pegged for Yellow Ranger status."

"Excellent." Aurora said, "And her?"

"Nikea Tarkov. Accepted by recommendation, survivalist training, pegged for Pink Ranger status."

"Him?"

"Jayne Smith. Strategical brilliance, efficient thinker, pegged for Green Ranger status."

Aurora thought about the three candidates with pride until another caught her eye.

"And what about him?" she asked.

"Morgan Seishin. Accomplished martial arts fighter, above average leadership skills, studied as a Buddhist Monk, prime candidate for Red Ranger status."

"Thank you, Lieutenant, that will be all." Aurora said. The man stood straight and saluted before turning to leave. Aurora pulled up a data pad of her own, a small microphone folding out of the top, and spoke into it.

Across the field of new recruits, the Commanders voice echoed over them, "Morgan Seishin, Jayne Smith, Nikea Tarkov, and Elizabeth Farland report to the Commanders office immediately."

The four candidates stopped their training, handing off their place in a sparring match to another, and left for the main Academy Complex. They weaved through the maze of hallways and hangars until they met up outside the Command Room.

Morgan got there first and held the door, "After you, friends." he spoke kindly. His bald head showing his dark skin, the only hair on his head being a carefully trimmed short beard. His bare arms bore tattoos of prayers between his shoulder and elbow.

"Thanks." Nikea said almost dismissively, not even looking up from her portable game. She had her standard issue Academy hoodie tied around her waist. Her hair tied back into a low hanging ponytail.

"Thank you!" Elizabeth skipped past Morgan, patting his large chest as she went. The rattle of various tools could be heard from the old and worn handbag she seemed to carry everywhere.

"You want me to take that for you?" Jayne asked as he paused in front of Morgan. He wore his hoodie proudly, having kept the same one his father received when he applied, which was the same he got from his father. He considered himself a little taller than most, but was still dwarfed by Morgan's height.

"It is fine, Jayne," Morgan smiled, "I insist."

Jayne let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He must've been more intimidated than he thought.

The four of them sat in the chairs provided, facing a large desk with a map of the Galaxy behind it. No one else was there, but they didn't know if they were supposed to notice that. Before long, Aurora strode into the room accompanied by her Lieutenant. She crossed the room and sat at her desk, the Lieutenant standing at the wall to her left.

"Welcome, recruits, my name is Commander Theresa Aurora, but you may refer to me as Commander Aurora." she gave a formal smile, "As you obviously know, we train elite teams of Power Rangers at this academy, for tasks ranging from exploration to emergency response. You four are the best of the ones down in the field."

The Jayne and Elizabeth smirked with pride at that remark, Nikea actually started paying attention, and Morgan nodded slowly.

"If you would turn to your right," Aurora gestured to her Lieutenant, who pressed a button on the wall, "we would like to give you your Ranger Uniforms."

A section of the wall moved outward about half a foot before splitting in half and opening up. Five Ranger Uniforms stood in neutral stance with their respective helmets on a pedestal next to a morpher in front of them.

"Oh, shit!" Jayne said, "We're actually going to be superheroes!"

"Excuse me, Commander?" Nikea asked raising her hand, "I assume you already picked colours for us, but I just wanna make sure I'm not pink. I hate how the colour looks on me."

"Um... well... we did have you for the Pink Ranger, but we could get something... arranged." the Lieutenant said hesitantly.

"I will take Pink, if she does not want it." Morgan said as he stood up.

"No... uh, please, Morgan. We had you for Red."

"Is pink not a lighter shade of red?"

"Yeah... I guess-"

"Then I will take pink." Morgan touched the Pink morpher. The suit de-materialized, being absorbed into the device. "Hmm. Interesting."

Aurora sighed and held her head in her hands, "And now its permanently linked to your DNA. Terrific."

"Okay, so if we're just picking colours~" Nikea got up before anyone could stop her and grabbed the Yellow morpher, causing the same thing to happen to the yellow suit as the pink.

"Damn." Aurora said under her breath, "Well, we hit the point of no return. You two just pick a colour and we'll figure it out from there."

"Perfect!" Jayne stood up and jumped over to the wall, grabbing the Blue morpher.

"So that leaves either red or green?" Elizabeth mused, "I'll take green."

With all four having taken their roles on the team, Aurora felt a migraine coming on in her head. She stood up and went around to the suit display. "Well, that's all fine and dandy, I'm glad you all got your favourite colour!" she said sarcastically, "But you're still short a leader, the Red Ranger! You just put me in a very inconvenient position here, and I'm going to need to make a few very awkward calls. For now you're all dismissed. Report back here tomorrow at 0700 sharp."

The four new rangers left the office, each both excited and nervous about the future. Morgan, however, wore a content smile.

"What a nice lady."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Galaxy, a knight in hulking armour walked with thundering steps through a gothic palace. The large shell of his chest and back plate bore engravings of tribal significance, and on the top of his armour was a shark fin made from an axe head.

When he made it to the end of the hallway, he climbed a wide set of stairs up to a chained closed sarcophagus. The Knight set down his enormous two handed war hammer before the sarcophagus and knelt.

"Officium, Honoris, Ordo." the Knight whispered, "Your army is ready, my Emperor. Your forces gathered. The armada mobilized. We are ready for your return."

The moulded in eyes of the coffin glowed slightly, and the Knight nodded.

"Understood, my Emperor." he stood and picked up his hammer, "Carpe Stellas."

 


	3. Chapter 3

James got out of the cab, a duffle bag of assorted belongings slung over his shoulder. His eyes protested the early morning light, he was not used to waking up at five. He handed some money to the driver and started walking to the Academy. He hadn't been there since he was fifteen, and hoped that it would stay that way, but the call he received the day before wasn't something to ignore.

The morning joggers ran past him, some giving looks of confusion or even disgust his way. James looked down at his loose fitting jacket and scratched at his short scruffy beard. He looked back up and gave the middle finger to the joggers.

As James walked inside, he noticed a few familiar faces. Of course they had aged, some even benefited from it, but they were still the newbies he applied with.

"Hey, Dave!" James called to one of his old friends as he ran up to them, "How you been?"

Dave turned to look at James, "I'm sorry, sir, have we met?"

"Dave, what the hell? We were survivalist partners, like, five years ago! It's me, James!"

"Oh, James!" Dave's expression became somber, "Didn't think you'd come back. I got my own team now, and we were going out for breakfast. Sorry, but we can catch up later, kay?"

James mood fell, "Yeah, sure. See ya."

James continued to the Commanders Office. He checked his watch and saw he had about three minutes until seven. He entered and sat down, noting four more chairs in front of the desk.

"You're early."

James jumped at the voice.

"As you always were." Aurora spun in her chair to face James, "Thank you for coming, I understand that there must be some harsh memories here."

"No shit." James mumbled.

"But I wouldn't have asked you to come if I didn't have a good reason," she continued, "we're creating another Ranger team, and due to... unconventional colour distribution they lack a leader." James tensed up. He knew what she was going to ask, "we would like you to be the Red Ranger."

"No."

"What?" Aurora was a little taken back by the response.

"No, I don't want to." James stated.

"Why not?" Aurora inquired, "Your teams death was not your fault, and the investigation went cold. You can't keep blaming yourself, James."

"Maybe not the whole team, but my brother and Amanda are dead because of me!" James nearly shouted, "If I had just gotten there sooner, I could have patched Amanda's suit and gotten Chris out before the explosion! Their blood is on my hands!"

Aurora stood up, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, James. Let them rest in peace."

Before James could say anything else, the other four new Rangers entered the office. They took their seats to James's right, Nikea shooting a glance at the unfamiliar face.

"Who's the new guy?" Nikea asked.

"This is James." Aurora gestured to him, "He will be the Red Ranger and your leader for your time as Power Rangers."

"Wait! I never agreed to that!" James shouted, getting up slightly from his seat.

Commander Aurora was about to say something before a siren sounded.

"**All Rangers! Report to your zords in the launch bays! Repeat; report to your zords in the launch bays!**"

"Oh, sweet! Do we get to go!?" Elizabeth squealed with childish anticipation.

"No, you don't have zords yet." Aurora ordered, "You five can come with me to the Control Centre."

Each of them rose from their seats as the Commander lead them down many hallways, eventually stopping at a large steel blast door. The door split open, and the six of them entered the room. Dozens of computer screens flashed with dozens more technicians speaking into their headsets stats and figures. On the opposite wall, a giant screen displayed the position of each Ranger team and their zords, at least twenty teams in total. Aurora walked up to a central control panel in the middle of the room, "You five, sit at the back and stay out of the way."

"Commander," a technician to Auroras right said, "a distress signal was received from just outside the solar system from a Titan Class cruiser. Rangers prepared to deploy for evac."

"Good." she confirmed, "All Red Rangers, deploy and form your Megazords in escort formation. We don't know what is out there, but be on guard."

A small chorus of 'understood' and 'yes, Commander' came from the large screen. The doors opened and every one of the zords were shot from their tubes, rails, and runways into space. On the screen, camera footage from inside each Zord was displayed, showing each and every Ranger team with their dramatically different themes and aesthetics. The screen then showed the twenty teams all form their Megazords, each with wildly different transformations and ending with unique and distinct forms.

"Holy shit, you think we're going to get one!?" Jayne rather loudly whispered.

"Considering we are now among their ranks, I believe so, friend." Morgan answered.

"This is Ranger team Gamma, we're approaching the cruiser." said a voice from one of the screens.

"All teams, you are clear to board." Aurora said, "Search for civilians, an evacuation carrier is en route."

The Megazords landed on the side of the enormous ship, almost one hundred Rangers in total disembarking into it. "Red Ranger Delta, we all made it on board. Power seems to be cut. No immediate signs of life. We're scanning now."

James felt something in his chest clench. This was all too similar to that day.

"Wait... one life signal found."

"Investigate, Rangers." Aurora ordered.

The sounds of distant heavy footsteps could be heard from the computers, "The signal's getting closer... SHIT, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?"

The speakers flooded with the sounds of gunfire and screaming. Voices were silenced one after another after a clash of heavy metal.

"Rangers! What is happening!? What is going on!?" Aurora demanded.

There was silence over the speakers, until the panicked hyperventilation of someone could be heard.

"-Commander Aurora! This- This is Red Ranger Beta. There- There's some kind of- of metal monstAAAAAHH!"

Again, silence settled over the room.

"You have grown weak in our absence, haven't you, Theresa?" the new voice sounded war weary, but slightly smug, "Your sins will be judged when the Empire returns. I will see to that."

The signal was cut off, only static coming from the speakers. Everyone in the room turned to their commander, desperate for answers. Aurora stood stock still, an expression of deep thought and dread on her face, the same as James.

"Hey, Commander! Who was that?" Elizabeth broke the silence.

"That was General Carcharodon." Aurora stated. She turned around to face James and pulled a small box from her coat pocket and handed it to him. He opened it and saw the Red morpher inside, "You no longer have a choice in the matter, James. Become the Red Ranger. That's an order."

 


	4. Chapter 4

The five Rangers sat together in a common room, waiting for orders or something to happen in general. Nikea sat reclined in a chair sideways, tuning out any sounds with headphones and a portable game. Morgan sat on the floor cross legged and silent in meditation, while Elizabeth was busy reading. James laid on his side facing away from the rest, trying to catch up on sleep.

Jayne, however, sat awkwardly on the edge of his chair leaning forward. He was never used to long silences, having grown up with two sisters and a brother.

"So..." Jayne began, "What made you all join?"

"An epiphany lead me here." Morgan said from his sitting position.

"Thanks, Buddha." Nikea mumbled sarcastically, "Wanna go out for tea and light some incense or do you want to do something productive?"

"Why such a bitch?" Elizabeth put down her book, "The guy's just answering a question!"

"I didn't really think that would happen..." Jayne leaned back in his chair.

"Oh yeah!?" Nikea snapped, "I read your file, I know the shit you've done!"

"What the hell!? How did you!?"

"I read too, you know." Nikea said smugly, "At least I don't hide behind a fake smile!"

"You're the one being that 'mysterious girl' who keeps to herself and refuses to make friends!"

"ENOUGH!" James screamed, "Shut up! None of us are here to make friends! We're here to become Rangers, because in case you forgot, all the rest are fucking dead!"

Jayne sunk back further into his seat, "I think I liked it better quiet."

"And you!" James pointed at Jayne, "You shut up, too! Quit complaining!"

"What did I do?"

James opened his mouth but struggled for an answer. Eventually he simply stood up and left the room.

"One of us will have to go fetch our leader." Morgan calmly stated.

"Some leader he is." Elizabeth said, "I'll go get him."

She left the room and looked down the hall. James was nowhere in sight, so Elizabeth wandered into the halls in search of him. Several minutes passed and she was about to give up looking for him, until she came across the cafeteria and James sitting down at one of the tables. Elizabeth walked over and sat opposite him, noting the tired and almost scared look on his face.

"What was that?" she asked sternly.

James didn't respond, only looking down at a plate of half eaten food.

"You know, you can't solve anything just by moping around. What was that?" she repeated.

"Look around for a minute." James said.

Elizabeth did, and saw that most of the tables were covered in plates of food.

"Yeah, what does it mean?" Elizabeth asked.

"They were here not three hours ago." James said, "Everyone was here just eating breakfast like normal people. Now they're dead."

Elizabeth's heart sank at the realization. Each plate represented one of the one hundred Power Rangers that died within only a few minutes of each other just a few hours ago, left behind with some expectation that they would return.

"This was my spot five years ago..." James chuckled a little bit, "My brother was the Green Ranger, too. He sat right where you are now. But he's gone. And so is everyone else."

"We're not, are we?" Elizabeth's voice grew softer and more friendly, "We're still alive, right?"

"If I'm here... probably not for long."

"You need to work on your people skills." Elizabeth joked.

"It's my fault my team died. I was the Blue Ranger back then."

"Is that why you snapped at Jayne?"

James grew quiet again.

"Well, I'm going back to the common room." Elizabeth stood up and started walking away, "Join us soon, we still need you there."

James was left to his own thoughts, he knew he couldn't just stay there. He turned his head back up to see Elizabeth, but she was already gone. He let out a sigh and started walking back as well.

When he got back, not much had changed. Morgan was still meditating, Nikea still playing video games, Jayne slipped into a nap, and Elizabeth took up her book again. James decided to sit back down where he was earlier.

"Sorry about that guys." James said quietly.

Morgan turned his head to look at James, "No harm done, James. You're dealing with internal strife, it is best to let it vent sometimes."

James gave an uneasy laugh. Maybe it wouldn't be all bad after all.

Aurora came into the room, slamming the door closed behind her. Jayne threw himself out of his chair from the noise, Nikea nearly broke her game, and James almost had a heart attack. Elizabeth marked her page on the book and set it down while Morgan simply unfolded his legs and stood up, giving a small bow to the Commander.

"Alright, Rangers, we have a lot to do." Aurora began, "We are far from prepared to fight another war with the Empire. Most of our Megazords were either captured or destroyed, and even if we still had them, they were built for exploration and emergency response, not warfare."

"Wait, what do you mean 'another war with the Empire?'" Nikea asked, "And how did that guy over the coms know you? Wasn't the Empire destroyed like, a hundred and fifty years ago?"

"I will answer your questions, just not now. First we need to-"

"You're a hundred and fifty!? You look like you could be forty at the oldest!" Jayne exclaimed.

"I'm not that old-" Aurora tried to maintain her professional guise.

"What about General Carcharodon? He acted like he knew you personally." Morgan pointed out.

"Okay, fine!" Aurora admitted, "If you refuse to act like mature adults, I'll tell you. As I've said, my name is Theresa Aurora. A century and a half ago, the First Empire of Terra was founded on the belief that humanity was becoming weak and isolated in an expanding Galaxy. The self proclaimed Emperor committed heinous war crimes against uncountable alien races. One of them was mine."

The room became silent as everyone payed attention.

"My entire race was wiped out. I am one of the last few left alive. We often live to be over five hundred years old." Aurora continued, "I gathered any who would join me and we lead an insurgency against the Empire. We eventually defeated them, their Emperor stood trial, and he and his generals were sentenced to eternity sealed in suspended animation capsules. I stepped down from being the leader of the Federation in order to start the Power Ranger Program. If Carcharodon somehow escaped his capsule, the Empire will surely return with a vengeance."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Nikea asked.

"So... you're an alien?" Jayne asked.

"To you, yes." Aurora confirmed, "But enough of my story. As far as we know, you are the last five Rangers we have, and we have no dedicated weapons for you."

"So we're fucked, huh?" James said.

"No, far from it." Aurora corrected, "We have a chance and fighting the Empire and defending the Earth Federation."

"But you said we don't have weapons," Elizabeth pointed out, "we can't fight with telescopes and star charts!"

"No you can't, but we can get weapons compatible with the remaining Megazord we do have."

"What are we to do?" Morgan asked.

"You will be assigned to the Mark 5 Andromeda Megazord currently in storage. As of right now, your mission is to find the old Warzords that won us the Galaxy generations ago."

 


	5. Chapter 5

On the furthest edges of the Galaxy, on a barren planet, a once mighty city stood in war torn ruins. General Carcharodon walked the broken streets, examining the rubble he once knew as the Empires Capital. One hundred and fifty years have drastically altered the proud city.

But he was not here to reminisce.

He was looking for the Tomb in which his armies were buried in their stasis pods. He had put as many people as he could in them to keep them safe when he knew the war was lost, along with whatever they would need to rebuild when they awoke. Carcharodon hefted a slab of concrete over his head and threw it aside, causing no sound in the vacuum. Under it was a wide door leading downward into the ground. He jumped down to it and cracked the stone under him.

Using his hammer as a key, he placed the head in between the double doors and turned the handle. The doors opened to reveal an airlock. Once inside, Carcharodon sealed the front door and opened the next.

Inside the chamber proper was row upon row of thousands of glowing blue glass tubes. Each one contained a citizen or a warrior, everyone who was in the city when he saw the Empire fall. Carcharodon opened the first pod he saw that had a soldier. The man stumbled out, taking a moment to adjust.

"Welcome back, soldier," Carcharodon put his hand on the mans shoulder, "We have much to do."

"...who... General?" the soldier finally looked up at the new figure, "General Carcharodon! My Lord! You have returned! Have... have we won?"

"No. Not yet." Carcharodon turned away to grab a rifle from the nearest stockpile and handed it to the soldier, "But we will."

Back on Earth, the Rangers were in training, practicing for when they would inevitably be needed. Nikea had been on a treadmill going almost full sprint for nearly an hour, Morgan was sparing with anyone who was brave enough to volunteer, and James was at the shooting range, putting most previous records to shame.

Jayne was wandering around rather awkwardly, not really sure of what to do.

"Hey, Jayney-Boy! What's up?" Elizabeth set down her tools next to the engine she was working on.

"Oh, uh, nothing really," Jayne muttered, "It's just that there isn't really something here for me to practice on."

"Well, what are you good at?" Elizabeth asked.

"Planning and strategy." Jayne gave an awkward smile, "Not really a skill for a gym, is it?"

"Hmmm..." Elizabeth thought for a moment, "Sorry, but I got nothing. Try talking to James or something." She walked away before Jayne could even make sense of what he heard.

He started walking toward James, watching some of his shots. He paused when he saw James was avoiding parts of the range, specifically the simulated duel.

"Hey, have you tried the quick draw thing?" Jayne asked when he got close, "You'd probably kill on that!"

James lowered his gun, "No, I was never good at it. Was never quick enough."

"Well, just try." Jayne then had an idea, "Keep the sun to your back, watch for twitches in the hand, but most importantly watch the shoulder. He can't move his arm without moving the shoulder."

"That work?"

"Trust me." Jayne smirked.

"Rangers, report to the control room." a voice came from the intercom.

"Sorry," James said, "Maybe next time."

The five Rangers made their way to the control room, Aurora waiting there for them alone.

"Hey... where is everyone?" Elizabeth asked.

"In their own rooms." Aurora closed the door behind the Rangers, "I cannot risk anyone else hearing what I'm about to say."

"What is it, Commander?"

"Ordering every active Ranger to respond to a distress beacon didn't feel right to me." Aurora explained, "That's because the order was not necessary in the slightest. I couldn't look into it at the time due to what was happening, but I did some investigation afterward. I found the technician that made the order... he was dead. He took a cyanide pill. Same as the gunner that shot down your Megazord five years ago, James."

"So he was a junkie." Nikea said, "Big deal. Took a bad pill and paid for it."

"No, this pill was planted." Aurora said, "He pulled it from under a table in his room. I believe there are sleeper agents within the Federation."

The room grew silent, no one really knowing what to say.

"Now you five and I are the only ones that know." Aurora continued, "Keep this only between us."

The sirens rang as people rushed into the room. The Rangers watched them, not knowing if any of them could be trusted.

"Commander!" one technician snapped everyone back to reality, "We picked up a Megazord signal in the Galactic Northeast. It maybe survivors of last week's attack."

"Understood." Aurora said, "Rangers, go to Zord Bay Five."

"Alright." James said. He turned to his team, "Okay, first mission! Let's not screw this up! I don't want bathroom duty!" James chuckled a bit to himself, but stopped when he realized no one else understood. "Let's just... go."

The five of them ran to an elevator and went to the lowest level. When the doors opened, they saw their zords. The same zords James's team had years ago.

"Rangers! Welcome!" an engineer jogged up to them, "These are your vehicles. Sorry that they're a little bottom of the barrel, but they're all we've got right now."

James was still looking at the rebuilt Blue Fighter 2 zord he once flew, but brought himself back to reality.

"Okay. Everyone has their morphers?" James asked.

"Yep, got it!" Jayne held his out.

"Yeah, right here." Nikea had hers.

"Got it!" Elizabeth dug hers out of her bag.

"Yes, leader." Morgan said with an encouraging tone.

"Alright, let's do it!"

They all pushed a small sequence of numbers into their morphers, causing a bright ball of coloured energy to encapsulate each of them. The ball closed in on them, changing shape into their Power Ranger suits.

The energy finally dispersed, leaving only the fully suited up Rangers. The suits were nearly identical; everyone's respective colour with a diagonal white band from their left shoulder to right hip. Metallic accents in the form of silver lines crisscrossed over their arms and legs, but stopped at the cuffs of their boots and gloves. The symbol of the Federation was on a badge on the right of their chest while their respective number was over their heart; James with a 1, Jayne with a 2, Nikea with a 3, Elizabeth with a 4, and Morgan with a 5.

The helmets had their differences, such as Jaynes being slimmer and Morgan's having sharpe triangular edges, but all had oxygen pipes from a container on the back of the suit to a rebreather over the mouth.

"Alright! I can get used to this!" Nikea said.

"I think that's the first time I heard you say something positive." James joked.

They ran to their zords, all of them strapping themselves to their pilots seat. A countdown started, and the zords were moved along a rail to a central rocket and attached. At the end, the rocket launched and the Rangers were out of the atmosphere within seconds. The rocket carried them to the other Megazord signal, a small ocean world with scattered islands.

"Okay, everyone, break off and form the Andromeda Megazord." James ordered.

"Got it!" the others said back.

The zords broke off from the central thruster, leaving it to orbit the planet as both their way home and a signal relay.

The Andromeda Megazord landed on one of the islands, mechanical pistons and heavy gears echoing as it stood up.

"James, I have a signal!" Jayne said.

"Where?"

"On our 5, just behind us."

The Megazord turned around and saw what was creating the signal. Another Megazord, this one appearing to be animal themed, stood facing the Andromeda Megazord in a fighting stance. All iconography of the Federation was scraped from its hull, replaced with the winged sword icon of the Empire.

"FEDERATION PUPPETS! LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS AND JOIN THE EMPIRE OR BE DESTROYED!" demanded a booming voice from the other Megazord.

"Rangers, report!" Aurora ordered over the coms, "Have you found the signal? Are there any survivors?"

"Yes and no, in that order." Morgan answered calmly, "The Empire has hijacked one of the fallen Rangers Megazords and has taken it as their own."

"Oh no..." Aurora said, "Get out of there! Almost every other Megazord we had is leagues more advanced than your own!"

"No can do, Commander." James stated bluntly, "You said we need to fight them, so this is where we start!"

The Andromeda Megazord jumped into the air at the enemy, while the captured Megazord summoned a sword and waited for its opponent to come down.

"FINE!" the voice boomed, "YOUR BODIES WILL PAVE OUR WAY TO GLORY!"

 


	6. Chapter 6

The Andromeda Megazord slammed down both of its fists into the rival Megazords shoulders, staggering it before it can take a swing with its sword. Once back on its feet, the Andromeda kicked into the rivals chest, knocking it completely over.

"Nikea! Find out what this Megazord is and what it can do!" ordered James, "We need to know any weaknesses or... something, just do it!"

"On it!" Nikea pushed herself over to a computer terminal in her cockpit and started looking through the various Megazords the Federation had, "Got it! It's Ranger team Epsilons, the Lion Pride Megazord. Made from Lion, Tigger, Cheetah, Panther, and Jaguar zords: Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, and Pink in that order."

"What does it say about weaknesses?" James asked as the Lion Pride started to stand up again, "Make it quick!"

"Give me a few minutes!" Nikea snapped back, "It's not like the Federation wants the weaknesses of our biggest weapons on the Internet!"

"Alright, we'll buy you some time, I guess."

The Lion Pride charged at the Andromeda, sword raised in both hands like a claymore.

"I have this one, friends." Morgan smirked under his helmet. The Andromeda sidestepped away from the attack, forcing the Lion Pride to lose its footing again, and threw a quick left jab and its midsection.

"James?" Morgan said, "May you allow me to take control for a few moments?"

"Sure, happily!" James started to smile as well. Morgan, having taken control of the Megazord, forced himself to forget his philosophies of pacifism.

The Andromeda kneed the Lion Pride in the stomach, making it drop its sword. The Lion Pride stood up again and swung its right fist in a wide arch and punched across the Andromedas face. The Andromeda used the motion to roll to the back of the Lion Pride and grabbed its left arm, locking it in position.

"Alright, I believe we have a small bit of time now." Morgan said as he took a deep breath.

"Okay, I found something," Nikea said, "this Megazord seems kinda slow considering we can outmaneuver it in this hunk of junk. It might have low power or a few damaged systems."

"Perfect! We can use that!" James took control of the Andromeda once more and picked up the discarded sword of the Lion Pride.

"FOOLS!" the voice from the other Megazord screamed, "YOU SERVE A FALSEHOOD! A FALSE RULER WITH AN EMPTY TITLE!" The Lion Pride raised both its arms, enormous tigger and cheetah faces glaring at their enemy. Their mouths opened to reveal cannons glowing a bright blue, "IF THIS IS THE PATH YOU CHOOSE, THEN YOU WILL DIE WALKING IT!"

A wide cone shaped beam shot from both hands, bathing the surrounding areas with a bluish white light. The Andromeda held the sword as a narrow shield, causing the beam to disperse into hundreds of smaller lasers firing in wildly different directions. The Lion Pride stepped forward a pace and the Andromeda was being pushed back, its boots gouging out deep trenches in the now burnt dirt under it.

"Shit!" shouted Elizabeth, "We can't get a good enough grip on the ground here! We can only last maybe another twenty seconds!"

"Just hold!" James ordered, "If Nikea's right, this is draining its energy!"

The sword began to crack, and slits of light started to burn the hull of the Andromeda.

"Rangers!" Auroras voice came over the coms, "Ranger Team Epsilon was not recovered from the cruiser! Who ever is inside, they may know what happened to them! I am giving the order to not kill whoever is piloting that Megazord!"

"Is now really the time, Commander!?" Jayne half joked.

"Ten seconds until the sword shatters!" Elizabeth said.

"JUST HOLD!" James forced the controls to stay in place, refusing to let them slip backwards.

The beam started to blink, losing intensity and power. Eventually, the beam completely stopped, and the Lion Pride dropped its arms to its sides exhausted. The sword the Andromeda was holding simply fell apart, car sized shards of blade falling across the battlefield.

"Hey, what gives?" Jayne asked, finally able to see the landscape beyond the light, "...oh..."

Burning gashes were cut into the dirt, many crisscrossing the planes and creating blackened crevices. To the left of the Andromeda, a small mountain range was cut in half and the rubble from the explosive landslides littered the land beyond them. To the right, the ocean was boiling, impossibly huge plumes of steam blocking the sun.

Finally, the Lion Pride just stood there, almost a kilometre away from the Andromeda. It didn't move, and lights that were scattered across its body were either dim or dead. Before the Rangers could move in to examine it further, the top half of the Lion Pride fell forward while the legs fell back, the Megazord having been cut in half. The torso hit the ground hard and threw up even more ash and dust.

"Dammit!" James said under his breath.

"Why?" Elizabeth inquired, "We won, didn't we?"

"We were supposed to capture them!"

"Then let us investigate." Morgan suggested.

The Andromeda strode forward and kneeled over the destroyed Megazord. The Rangers exited the Andromeda and started a search of the wreckage. Once inside, the Rangers turned on their helmet mounted flashlights and drew their sidearms.

"We'll make our way to the control room," James said quietly, "Unlike ours, the pilot seats all move to the centre of the chest."

"Got it." Elizabeth acknowledged. The others simply nodded.

It was eerily quiet on their way to the chest of the Red Zord. Aside from burnt out circuits and bent metal from the fight minutes earlier, there was no immediate evidence of a forced entry point or any sign of a struggle. Soon, they got to the blast doors that led to the control room.

"Alright," James prepared to open it, keeping his gun ready, "be ready for a fight."

Morgan and Elizabeth nodded and stood in front of the door with their guns raised. Jayne and Nikea stood on opposite sides of the door with theirs.

"Okay..." James gripped the release lever on the door, "Now!"

The door split open without difficulty and all five of them entered. The thick smoke and dust inside the room was lit up by their headlights. However there was no retaliation from inside. There were no shots from the pilots, no sounds of escaping passengers, nothing.

Then they saw who was in the pilots seats.

"Oh, god..." Nikea whispered, stepping back slightly.

Jayne gagged inside his helmet, turning away and resting his hands on his knees.

Elizabeth looked away, struggling not to cry or scream or anything.

Morgan holstered his gun and pulled out prayer beads, hands shaking, "I am sorry..."

"Rangers! Report!" Aurora said, "Are you in the cockpit? Who was the pilot?"

The five pilots, and the control room in general, were burned to a crisp. The beam they used was far too demanding in terms of power and their shields were dropped. The majority of the reflected energy landed squarely in the centre of the Lion Prides chest, cooking the pilots in their seats. Even though they were blackened and charred, they were recognizable.

"Commander..." James said, trying hard not to choke on his own words, "...we have found Ranger Team Epsilon... they're dead..."

There was no response over the coms for an uneasy minute.

"Acknowledged." Aurora said without emotion, "Extract their bodies and return to base."

"Understood." James walked up to the burned corpses and reached for the release latch on the Blue Rangers harness.

"...uh..."

James backed away, "Holy shit!"

"What?" Jayne walked up beside James, "What happened?"

"Jayne! Go get the med-kit! We have a survivor!"

"What!?"

"Now!!!"

 


	7. Chapter 7

Reconstruction of New Terra, homeworld of the Empire, was progressing well. The majority of the military was taken out of stasis and was setting up relief camps and assisting the civilians who also came out of their deep sleep. The atmosphere became halfway breathable again due to engineers reactivating the terraformer, though it would be a while before people could breathe without some kind of oxygen mask.

General Carcharodon walked the recently cleared street that led to the palace. He stopped every few paces to heft a slab of debris out of his way. He saw a train car sized block of concrete leaning against a collapsed warehouse. A squad of soldiers was chipping away at it with pick axes and jackhammers, but little progress was being made.

"Soldier!" Carcharodon shouted, causing the one closest to him to turn his attention. The soldier jumped down from the block and approached him.

"Yes, sir?" he asked formally.

"Why are you trying to get inside this building?"

"The majority of it is still standing," the soldier pointed out only the front was destroyed, "we plan to use this as a temporary habitation centre. There should be medical equipment and beds inside."

"Well done." Carcharodon walked past the man, "Everyone off the block!"

The squad complied and joined the first behind Carcharodon, who calmly walked up to the mass of stone. He placed both hands under the edge of it. Steam hissed from the joints in his armour and pistons locked in place. With a slight grunt, he lifted the block over his head and threw it across the city.

Carcharodon eased the pressure on his armour and moved in to investigate the damage to the building, but at once stopped.

"What is it, sir?" the squad leader asked as he stood behind the General, "Oh..."

There were bodies, huddled in fear and mostly decomposed, cowered in the corners or splayed out on the floor. One in particular was the partially decomposed corpse of a female, huddled in the corner. Carcharodon took a few steps toward it and noticed it was a mother, desperately holding onto her infant.

"Lieutenant?" Carcharodons voice was monotone but firm.

"Yes, General?"

"Clear these bodies. Identify those you can. These people deserve a proper burial..." Carcharodon paused, "Keep the civilians away from here. We don't want them panicking or heartbroken."

"Understood, Sir!" the Lieutenant turned and gathered the rest of the squad, two heading out to set up a perimeter. Carcharodon looked back to the bodies, the joints of his gauntlets creaked from the pressure of his fists.

"These people's blood is on your hands, Theresa."

Back on Earth, the James and Aurora stood outside of an operating room where the Blue Epsilon Ranger was being treated. The sounds of hasty footsteps and a faint and unsteady beeping echoed from inside.

"Was there anything unusual about their Megazord?" Aurora asked.

"It was slow." James commented, "Kinda like they forgot how to use it properly."

"Well, that's something useful." Aurora said, "We know that an awakened sleeper should still have their memories, so it is likely that Epsilon was brainwashed and they were not sleepers."

"Any idea how he survived that?" James asked, "What's his name, anyway?"

"Ranger Team Epsilon, Blue Ranger: Thomas McGregor." Aurora answered, "He scored higher than most on survival training, but this is completely unexpected."

A doctor came out of the door to the operating room looking somber, "Commander Aurora, Ma'am?"

"Is he dead?" Aurora asked without emotion.

"Yes... but..." the doctor went quiet, "He isn't Ranger McGregor."

"What?" James spoke up, "The hell does that mean?"

"Just come inside." The doctor lead the two inside. Along the back wall were the bodies of Ranger Team Epsilon, Blue being the only one not in a body bag. Blues helmet was on the floor next to his bed. His face was not the same on the identification paper attached to his bed.

"So the Empire took their morphers and gave them to these guys?" James asked, "Great! We didn't kill another team!"

"Don't get excited, Ranger Klein." Aurora spoke sternly, "I gave the order not to kill them. Admittedly, it was by their own hand the died, but we are still back to square one."

The damaged Ranger suits on each of the bodies started to glow slightly. They started to pull back, being absorbed back into the morphers, Blues helmets disintegrating as well.

"Doctor, take these morphers back to Engineering for repair." Aurora ordered.

"Right away." The doctor and the nurses took the burnt oval shaped devices from the wrists of the cadavers and rushed them out of the room.

"So... what now?" James asked.

"Right now, we wait." Aurora answered, "Sooner or later we will pick up some zord signature and you and your team will be dispatched again. In the meantime, I suggest you go talk to them. Get to know them. Otherwise you won't function as a team."

"Okay, I'll be off then."

James wandered the complex back to the now mostly empty barracks. Even though they all had more than enough space necessary for them to have their own rooms, Aurora ordered them to share one of the larger ones. While Morgan and Elizabeth were fine with it, Nikea hated the close proximity to others. Jayne simply felt awkward sharing a room with four other people.

James entered the room and saw almost exactly what he expected. Morgan sat quietly in the corner, Nikea was as far as she could get from everyone else with her game, Elizabeth was reading, and Jayne was asleep. Nikea was the first to notice James entered.

"So, how's Blue Boy?" Nikea asked sarcastically.

"He's dead."

Nikea, Elizabeth, and Morgan faced James at once.

"But he wasn't the actual Blue Ranger. The Empire stole their morphers and Megazord."

"Did we at least get anything out of him?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know. I wasn't in the room."

"So we're back to square one?" Nikea said, "Perfect. No gain."

"Not true." James said as he sat on his bunk, "We know that Epsilon were not sleepers. There is the chance that they are still alive."

"I doubt that." Morgan said quietly, "An empire like this would not leave loose ends untied. All other Rangers are dead. There's no other scenario possible."

"Whoa whoa!" Elizabeth said, "What was that? I thought you were supposed to be optimistic!"

"I'm..." Morgan thought of a way to phrase his words, "...being realistic."

"Ironic coming from a monk..." Nikea whispered to herself, "You sure practiced that peace loving nature when you beat the hell out of them..."

"What!?" Morgan shouted as he stood up, "How dare you insult me or my beliefs!? I killed! I broke my vows of pacifism! For our mission, I did what I swore never to do again! What have you done!? Shut yourself away with your games, push each of us away, and say nothing but sarcastic comments on everything!" Morgan pointed directly at Nikea, who was pressing herself further into her chair out of fear, "You will earn the right to insult me when you have stopped being a sarcastic little brat and grow the fuck up!"

The room was silent, all eyes on Morgan.

Nikea, eyes burning, stood up without looking at anyone and rushed out of the room as quickly as possible. The door slammed as she ran down a hallway.

"Wait..." Morgan expression softened, turning to regret. He looked at the others, each of them wide eyed and silent, "I didn't..." He started walking to the door, "I need to go apolo-"

"No," James stopped him, "I don't think that would be best right now. I'll go get her."

Morgan was about to object, but thought better of it and sat in his original spot again. James left the room and ran down the hallway he thought Nikea might have. As the door shut behind him, Jayne started to wake up.

"Hey, guys," Jayne said drowsily, "What'd I miss?"

 


	8. Chapter 8

James jogged through the complex searching for Nikea. He passed the cafeteria, the gym, the other bunks, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Nikea!" James shouted, "Hey, where'd you go?"

He had wandered into the maintenance area. It was unlikely she was there, but stranger things have happened to them in the past couple weeks. It was dimly lit, only enough light for someone to see where they were going for twenty feet. James was about to leave when he heard a soft sobbing around the corner.

"Nikea?" he slowly peeked around to see it was coming from a janitors closet. James quietly knocked on the door, "Nikea? Are you in there?"

"Go away..." Nikea halfheartedly said.

James opened the door slightly. Nikea had tucked herself in the corner of the small room, knees held close to her chest, and face hidden from view from her hair undone from her usual ponytail.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"Just... leave me alone... please?" Nikea said.

James entered and sat down next to Nikea, leaving a respectful space between them, "Come on, you can tell me."

Nikea was silent for a long moment, contemplating what to say. She thought about simply avoiding the question and just say that it was because she was yelled at, but she knew in her state James would see right through that. In the end, she decided to just say it.

"I know you guys hate me." she said softly.

James recoiled at bit, "What? Where'd you get that?"

"Everything Morgan said was true." Nikea elaborated, "I do push people away. I don't know how not to." She pulled her knees closer, "I am just a spoiled brat. I only got into the Academy on a recommendation from my dad, who is a Federation Admiral."

"Well, that doesn't mean you're a brat, does it?"

"You don't really get it, do you?" Nikea wiped her eyes with her sleeve, "I don't belong here, I'm not qualified for this..."

"Don't say that." James started, but Nikea didn't pay much attention.

"All that survivalist training? Heh..." she laughed sarcastically at that, "Just my dads attempt at covering up me running away from wherever home was at the time." James was silent, letting her vent. "These two weeks have been the longest I've spent in one place, I can never make any friends... I don't know how."

"Well..." James tried to reject that claim, but she was right. He barely knew her, or Jayne, or Morgan, or Elizabeth, but now they're forced into the role of the sole team capable of fighting a severely pissed off galactic empire. They had nothing in common. "...that shouldn't stop you, should it?"

Nikea turned to face James, her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, "What does that mean?"

"We're here, and we don't really have a choice in that." James explained, "We have nothing but time to make friends with each other, eh?"

Nikea genuinely laughed a little bit, "Sure... I guess you're right."

"Rangers, report to the control room." the announcement was echoey as they were in the maintenance halls, but it was still clear.

"Alright, enough sappy stuff." James stood up and offered a hand to Nikea, "We have a job to get to."

"Okay." Nikea smiled and took James' hand, "Let's get going!"

Minutes later, the five Rangers stood in the control room facing Aurora, with Nikea standing as far as possible from Morgan and next to James.

"Rangers, we've picked up a signal that we assume to be on of the Warzords." Aurora began, "It isn't that far from Earth and is on a planet colonized by humans, so finding it shouldn't be a problem."

"Understood." James said, "Alright, let's go!"

The five of them left to the hangar, activating their morphers when they arrived. Upon the launch of the zords, Aurora came on the coms once more.

"Rangers, you should know that we've also just picked up some Empire activity there. It is likely they have also picked up on the Warzord."

"Got it, Commander." James confirmed.

"Hey, Commander?" Jayne spoke up, "Does this seem a little... serialized? Like... we're using the older zords and they're numbered one to five, but why weren't the other Ranger Teams zords numbered? And now we're looking for presumably zords six and on. It seems off to me."

Jayne could feel Aurora face-palming through the communications, "Ranger Blue, the numbered system was abandoned once the number of Ranger Teams with their own specialties and members exceeded the reasonable limits of the system."

"Okay." Jayne said, "Just saying..."

The rocket exited FTL in orbit over a jungle planet with scattered seas instead of oceans. Only a few settlements could be seen from orbit, and they appeared to be lacking any highly advanced technology, only having railways as the most prominent detail of advancement.

"The signal is originating from the northern hemisphere, just outside the largest settlement." Aurora said.

"Alright, understood, Commander." Elizabeth said.

"We'll land just to the east," James ordered, "From there we'll search for the Warzord."

The others agreed and the zords landed. Once the five exited their vehicles, the sounds of gunshots could be heard.

"Oh, shit!" Elizabeth panicked and shot her sidearm widely before Morgan could hold down her arms.

"Hey!" Morgan scolded, "We cannot be alerting potential enemies to our presence or location."

"Alright." Elizabeth was breathing heavily, "Alrighty then."

"Okay, what now?" Jayne asked.

"We go find out what it is." James said, "We'll go sneak up to the settlement and see what's happening. But we have to go now."

The five of them started running toward the gunfire, staying low and avoiding being seen. Once they got to the edge of the jungle, they crouched low in the brush and watched the settlement. Empire Soldiers were everywhere, rounding up civilians and hastily taking them to large transport ships. The gunfire was coming from the other side of the town, the soldiers were fighting a small skirmish against a group of civilians with guns in their homes. It seemed as though the ragtag militia was fighting a losing battle and were pinned in just one building.

"Guys! We have to do something!" Elizabeth said.

"No!" Nikea shot back, "They'll see us! In case you forgot, we don't have an army!"

"We can at least fight, can't we!?" Elizabeth begged.

"No, we just can't right now!" James ordered, "Stay down and let's make our way to- wait! NO!"

Elizabeth charged into the town square screaming. Many of the soldiers immediately saw her and raised their weapons, firing at both her and inadvertently at the other Rangers. Elizabeth effortlessly dodged the hail of bullets, stopping about twenty feet in front of the soldiers. She held out her hands and a heavy weapon appeared in a cloud of digital code. The weapon she now held resembled a massive green riveter with a longer barrel. On the side was printed in military font 'Bolt Cannon Mark IV.'

Elizabeth pulled the trigger once, and was thrust backwards a few feet. Once she got her balance back, she saw that one of the soldiers was impaled by an oversized rivet and bolted to a wall.

"Oh..." Elizabeth said to herself, "...fuck yes."

Elizabeth unleashed a torrent of metal at the solders, sending them flying and slamming into walls. A few of the soldiers attempted to flank her, trying to take advantage of the weapons slow rate of fire. However, Elizabeth saw this and swung her weapon away from the soldiers. She used the heavy recoil to her advantage, jumping just as she fired to send herself flying at the enemy. She crashed into the few unfortunate men who stood in her way, continuing her assault. The disordered military forces made a retreat to their transport crafts, disengaging as fast as possible.

The other Rangers finally caught up to her and gazed at her handiwork.

"Where the hell did that come from?" asked Jayne slack jawed.

"I dunno." Elizabeth smirked under her helmet.

"Well, we should get going." James said, "The Empire probably has something in store for us."

"Um, James?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah?"

Morgan simply pointed to the sky. The other Rangers followed his gaze to see an enormous robot being airlifted into the area. It was not a Megazord, as it lacked any indication it was a combination of some kind, but clearly was made to fight one.

"Shit." Nikea said.

The giant robot was dropped onto the ground, sending shockwaves across the area. The Rangers could only stare at it, as it was obviously more well equipped for armed combat then they were, even in the Andromeda Megazord.

"Rangers?" Aurora came over the radio, "Come in. Have you located the Warzord yet?"

"Ehhh..." James hesitated, "...we found something, just not something good."

 


	9. Chapter 9

The single mono-eye in the centre of the robots face flicked on with an industrial sounding clunk, shining pale purple light over the landscape. The beast rotated its shoulders as a boxer would, and started moving toward the town.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Jayne screamed, turning to sprint away.

"Not so fast, Jayne." Morgan grabbed the back of Jaynes suit to stop him.

"Alright..." James said with hesitation, "...we should... get to our Zords."

James started running in the same direction Jayne was about to. Jayne looked up at Morgan over his shoulder, a puppy dog look under his helmet. Morgan gave an audible sigh and let go, the four of them following their fleeing 'leader.'

The Rangers made it to their vehicles, the thundering footsteps of the robot behind them. James, Elizabeth, and Jayne took off in their flying vehicles while Morgan and Nikea stuck to the ground.

"Guys," James said over their communications, "we need to stop this thing before it causes too much damage!"

The Red, Blue, and Green zords flew around the beast firing what weapons they had. The Pink and Yellow did their best to knock it over from the ground, pushing full throttle against its shins and feet. The Green Shuttle and Blue Fighter swarmed the robot, Jayne using his twin Vulcan cannons to harass it and Elizabeth drawing fire away from Morgan and Nikea. The robot raised its arms to its face in an attempt to protect the cockpit. Bullets riddled from the thick armour and blunt weapons of the forearms, doing little more than scratch and chip paint.

The robot took a step forward, its right foot passing unabated over the Pink zord. Morgan cursed in his mind and drove in a wide arch to get back to the front.

"What was that about doing damage, James?" Morgan asked sarcastically.

"Hey, guys?" Jayne said, "Why are we doing this instead of immediately going into Megazord mode?"

"Because..." James began, but he couldn't think of a valid reason, "...well, you got me there. Form the Andromeda Megazord!"

"On it!" Nikea put the Crawler in reverse and pulled away a good distance from the giant robot before slamming on the brakes to form the right leg. Elizabeth also pulled away from the robot and made a nosedive next to Nikea and forming the left leg. James and Jayne followed, forming the torso and right arm. Morgan was left holding the robot back as long as he could, pushing the gas pedal to keep its foot in place.

"Okay, Morgan!" Elizabeth said, "We're clear!"

"Understood! On my way!" Morgan spun his Runner Zord away from the robot. Before he could drive away, however, Morgans Zord was stomped into the ground and into a crevasse opened by the force of the impact.

"Morgan!" shouted Jayne.

The Rangers were not allowed a moment to interpret what happened, as the giant robot marched forward and swung its fist across the Andromedas face. The Andromeda was sent sprawling to the ground, and with only one arm it could not brace properly. The robot took this chance to kick the Rangers while they're down, knocking them back even further and against a cliff face.

"Ah! Son of a bitch!" James cursed as the lights in the Megazord flickered slightly.

"Hold on! I'll get us up again!" Jayne moved the right arm to push the Andromeda back into a standing position, but it was an awkward process.

"Hey, guys!?" Nikea shouted, "It's coming back!"

The robot charged the Megazord again, fist raised. The Andromeda sidestepped the attack, letting the robot hit itself into the rock face.

"Okay," Elizabeth said to herself more than anyone, "This isn't going to be good."

Underground, Morgan crawled out of his Runner Zord with his hand against his temple. The only light where he was came from the crack in the planets crust above him. He could hear the booms of the battle above him, shaking the ground around him.

"James? Elizabeth?" Morgan tried to contact his team, "Jayne? Nikea? Can you hear me?"

All he got in return was static.

Sighing, Morgan turned on the flashlights on the side of his helmet and looked around. It was a cave, likely the remains of an underground lake, but something wasn't quite right. He picked a direction and started walking, making sure he could find the Runner again.

After a few minutes of walking, Morgan noticed the path he took was becoming easier and easier to traverse.

"Well, isn't this interesting?" Morgan mused.

The path was actually a metal walkway, leading to a presumably underground building or complex. Caution strips lined either side of his path and an orange chevron marked the walls every few paces. Morgan turned down a less than high tech corridor into a wide open garage. He smiled under his helmet.

"Now what were you doing all the way down here, my friend?"

Back on the surface, the Andromeda Megazord was on its last legs, having little in the way of offensive capabilities without its other arm. The enemy robot finally turned on its speakers to address its prey.

"ANY LAST WORDS, POWER RANGERS!?" it asked tauntingly.

"Quick! Does anyone have any ideas!?" James frantically asked.

"No! I have nothing!" Nikea answered.

"PATHETIC!" the robot spit out the words, "DIE LIKE THE ONES BEFORE YOU!"

The robot raised both fists to deliver a devastating final blow, the Rangers braced for impact. But before the killing blow could be dealt, the robot was showered in a hail of bullets.

"Wait..." Jayne peeked out from under his arms, "...we're not dead?"

"Friends!" Morgans voice came over the radio, "I believe I found what we originally came for!"

Morgan came flying over the hills to the right of the Andromeda in a low to the ground tank, the front of which was an enormous Gatling Gun. An orange band ran across its middle, a large 6 printed in military font on the top.

"I believe we can use this vehicle, yes?"

"Absolutely!" James took control of the Megazord once more, "See if you can link up, we kinda need a hand!"

There was silence over the radio.

"Leave the awkward and poorly timed jokes to me, James." Jayne said seriously.

"On my way!" Morgan stepped on the gas and aimed for an incline next to the Andromeda. The Orange Gunner Zord launched itself over the crippled robot and next to the Andromeda Megazord. In the air, the treads of the vehicle pulled back, allowing the front weapon and cockpit to rotate into the hand. The zords connected almost seamlessly, and with a hiss of steam, the Andromeda stood up again with a new weapon.

"Where the hell did you find this?" Elizabeth asked shocked.

"In an old Federation hangar underneath where I was stomped." Morgan answered nonchalantly.

"Well, we aren't out of the woods yet!" James said as the enemy robot started to get up again.

The robot took a boxers stance, guarding its midsection with its forearms and head with its hands. The Andromeda held up its new arm and fired, unleashing a violent torrent of lead. The robot dodged all it could, but a few lucky hits were made. Unfortunately, it was far from enough to bring it down. The robot backhanded the barrels of the Gatling gun and punched the Andromeda in the face.

"James!" Jayne shouted, "Remember what I said about quickdrawing?"

"Yeah? What about it?" James struggled to regain control of the Megazord.

"Watch the shoulder!"

A wave of realization came over James as he stood the Megazord upright. He gazed out at the robot as it prepared another attack. The movement of its armoured gauntlet made him think it was trying another backhand, but a closer look at its shoulder said it was pulling up over it. James assumed that the pilot of the robot also assumed the Rangers would try to block to the left, completely leaving their right open, but he now knew what to do.

James swung the left arm of the Andromeda along with the robots, exposing the Megazords chest.

"James!" screamed Nikea, "What are you doing!? It's going to kill you!"

"No it won't!" James replied with an edge of sarcasm.

Just as James predicted, the gauntlet raised up,, and the Andromeda hit it even further away. Next, James spun the Megazord on its heels to the side and then the back of the robot. The Gatling Gun was pressed against the back of the robots head.

"Checkmate!"

The barrels erupted once again, shredding the head of the robotic cyclops. The decapitated Machine fell to its knees and then to the ground completely.

The Rangers stood there in their Megazord, both shocked at what they had just done and that they are actually still alive.

"Wait a minute..." Jayne said, "Is there really a 6 on that old Zord, Morgan?"

"Yes?" Morgan answered rather confused.

"See!" Jayne shouted, "All of this seems way too much like a linear series, like a TV show or something!"

Back on New Terra, General Carcharodon walked up to the sarcophagus of the Emperor once more. He laid his hammer down next to him as he kneeled.

"Officium, Honoris, Ordo." Carcharodon whispered, "I can sense your power is growing, my Emperor, so does the strength of your Empire. The citizens have gathered a sense of duty and revenge, many have volunteered to our forces."

The sculpted eyes on the chained sarcophagus glowed.

Carcharodon hesitated.

"No, the new Power Rangers are not defeated yet. They killed several soldiers during our evacuation efforts on Martua IV. Several anarchists attacked us as we extracted civilians, but the Power Rangers attacked our soldiers. We managed to save the majority of civilians, but at a steep cost."

The glow intensified.

"Yes, we have abandoned using salvaged Megazords. Our soldiers scrape the surface of the Morphing Grid, making them weaker than their foes."

The glow at once stopped. Carcharodon raised his head in confusion, but lowered it again when the light returned.

"Understood, my Emperor." Carcharodon picked up his hammer and walked away, "Carpe Stellas."

Carcharodon left the gothic hall of the Emperor to its unnatural silence, but the glow of the eyes only grew brighter. The coffin itself started to vibrate, softly rattling the chains and locks. One of the locks and its chain on the front of the sarcophagus broke and fell to the floor before blowing to dust in an invisibly soft breeze. The glowing stopped, and so did the vibrations.

Several moments passed.

The silence was broken only by the absolute quietest of sounds. The sound was just audible enough for one to hear, but still small enough for them to question if they really heard it. The sound of someone taking in a deep and long waited for breath.

"...freeee..."

 


	10. Chapter 10

The Rangers were not at the Academy, nor were they in their bunk room. They were allowed the day off by Aurora so they could both rest for the inevitable emergency that needed their attention and to celebrate their first real victory. They decided to head out to town, go to a few bars or restaurants, anything really.

They arrived at one of the bars in town that was usually the most popular and sat at the bar. Elizabeth, Jayne, Nikea, and James all ordered whatever they chose while Morgan was comfortable with non-alcoholic drinks. It was noisy, crowded, and a little bit too 80's, but good enough. It was good for them; tension was released among them, they got the chance to relax, and they were finally among people other than themselves.

For better or worse.

"Hey, you two come here often?"

Nikea and Elizabeth turned to see some macho man leaning back against the bar putting on the most charm he had. Considering his magenta collar was popped up the whole way and his hair was overly spiked, it wasn't a lot of charm.

"You say the same thing to every girl?" Elizabeth asked mockingly.

"But no," Nikea elaborated, "we don't, and it would be great if you could leave us alone."

"Whoa, no need to hit the breaks too fast!" the guy put his hands up defensively, but still had a confident smile, "You haven't even gotten to know me yet! I'm Wade."

The guy slid a drink across the bar to Nikea, then one to Elizabeth. Before either could take a drink, however, Morgan reached from behind them and grabbed the glasses, pouring them in the bar sink.

"Hey man!" Wade shouted, "What's the deal!? You just ruined my chances with these chicks!"

"Theses chicks, as you say, are my friends," Morgan stated calmly, "and I saw you dip your finger into those drinks. If I were you, I'd leave them alone." Morgan stood to his full height, staring down at Wade. "Now. I'd prefer we part without violence."

Wade backed off before turning and getting as quickly away from Morgan as possible. Morgan then sat at the bar next to Nikea.

"Hey, thanks Morgan." Nikea said rather quietly.

"Consider it an apology for what I said to you yesterday." Morgan smiled, "It was uncalled for. I... regret a lot of my actions."

Nikea heard a double meaning in his words, and thought back to his actual words. Before she could bring it up, James and Jayne walked over to the other three, carrying a large wad of cash.

"Well now!" Elizabeth remarked, "What have you two been up to?"

Jayne flaunted the cash, "You'd be surprised how much people bet on darts!"

James stuck his elbow into Jayne's side, "It also didn't hurt that I was the one throwing!"

They shared a laugh before sitting down again. With their prize money, James and Jayne bought them another round.

It wasn't long before Morgan felt a hard tap on his shoulder. He spun around in his chair to see Wade and a small gang of equally overdressed men with him.

"Hey, buddy! You wanna take this outside or stay here!?"

"You tried to drug my friends. I believe I am in the right here." Morgan's statement made James snap his attention between Nikea and this new guy.

"You didn't answer my question, pal!" Wade cracked his knuckles, "Here or outside?"

"My philosophy forbids me from starting a fight..."

"Okay then!" Wade threw a punch at Morgan, hitting him across the face.

Morgan simply took the hit and calmly stood up. Wades gang stepped back a little, "...however, it does allow me to finish one."

Morgan threw his own punch at Wade, using his MMA training to put his weight into it as well. Wade was knocked back several feet, landing on his back in the middle of his gang. Wade got back up as his gang and the Rangers prepared for a brawl.

Jayne, however, made a beeline to the DJ of the club.

"Hey, buddy!" Jayne got the DJs attention and held up some money, "I will give you a hundred dollars if you play bar fight music!"

The DJ took the money happily and started playing an upbeat an energetic song. Jayne then rushed back to the crowd that gathered around his team, leaping to grab the shoulders of someone and bring them down hard.

That was all the incentive people needed.

The bar and club turned to utter chaos. The Rangers of course were fighting Wades gang, but others took this opportunity to vent steam and settle scores. Wade attacked Morgan first, but using his advantage in size and weight, Morgan threw Wade onto the bar and slid him down the length of it. Shattered glass and alcohol sprayed everywhere.

Jayne got back up and dived behind the bar. He wasn't alone, however. The bartender and owner of the establishment was there as well, giving Jayne a death glare.

"You're not going to let this slide, are you?" Jayne asked guiltily.

"Not on your life, kid." the owner deadpanned.

"Alright..." Jayne let out a heavy sigh and handed the owner his wad of cash, "...this should cover damages, the booze, and one bottle of beer."

"Why one bottle?"

"This!" Jayne grabbed one bottle from behind the counter and stood up quickly, spinning as he did so.

James was having a fist fight with another drunk patron, and was losing pretty badly. He had been backed up against the counter of the bar, and he didn't see a way out. Just as the patron swung, James simply ducked, just as Jayne popped out from behind the bar and smashing a bottle against the side of the mans temple.

"Hey thanks, buddy!" James said a little dizzily.

"No problem!" Jayne leaped over the counter and grabbed a stool as he went, eager to bash some heads.

Nikea and Elizabeth were out in the middle of the crowd, fighting anyone that thought fighting them was a good idea. Most of the people in the middle of the club were already beaten and staggering, so the two of them made a game out of it.

"I'm at six!" Elizabeth shouted as she decked a guy in the face, "What about you!?"

"Eight!" Nikea replied smugly, kicking a man in the back of the knee, bringing him down to a level she could punch more effectively, "Try to keep up!"

The drunken battle continued for several minutes, people leaving and entering constantly, but it all cam to an abrupt conclusion when someone fired a gun.

The fighting stopped, but the chaos only got worse. The music, abandoned by the DJ quite a while ago, was drowned out by the screams of panicked partygoers and late night drinkers scrambling for the exit. Almost reflexively, the Rangers closed rank and took up more advanced combat stances.

"Anyone see where that shot came from?" James asked as he readied his morpher.

"No, the guy could have already split by now." Jayne answered.

"Either way, I don't think we're safe out in the open." Nikea pulled out her morpher as well, the other three following suit.

"Okay, just be careful," James punched the numbered code into the device, "we don't want to hurt anyone!"

The five Power Rangers morphed, causing the coloured balls of light to completely envelope them. When it dissipated, most of the people had already left the club, a brave few stayed to take video and photos of the actual Power Rangers.

"Um..." Jayne commented, "Shouldn't there have been another shot?"

"No." a familiar voice answered, "Because if it was a real armed assailant, you should have responded immediately."

Aurora stepped out in front of the Rangers, sidearm in its holster yet smoking slightly. Her platinum hair was done up in a casual way, and the state of her outfit suggested she wasn't planning on wearing her formal attire that evening.

"Not only did you start a bar fight," she began, "cause excessive property damage, injure at least twenty people, and fail to respond appropriately to gunshots in a populated area, you ruined my evening off as well!"

"Well..." Jayne took his helmet off, "...to be fair, some guy started it by hitting Morgan."

"The same man attempted to drug Nikea and Elizabeth." Morgan elaborated.

"I don't care." Aurora was furious, "Unfortunately, due to you being the last Power Rangers left, I can't fire you, nor can I suspend your duties in any way. Instead, you five will report back to the Academy immediately, you will not be allowed time off until further notice, and I expect a forty page report on Zord maintenance by 0800 sharp tomorrow morning."

"But that's in like, nine hours!" James complained.

"Then you better get writing!"

The five Rangers sprinted out of the club and toward the Academy. Once they were gone, Aurora let out a sigh and walked to the bar. She pulled a stool back upright and took one of the abandoned drinks left out and started sipping.

"God, I hope they'll be enough for what's coming..." she said to herself.

In the hall of the Emperor's gothic palace, General Carcharodon walked up to the sarcophagus with a squad of soldiers following close behind. They were dressed differently than their fellow combatants. Their normally function over form faceplates of their helmets were replaced with similarly built ones more resembling a skull shaped death mask. The lead soldier carried a steel briefcase clamped and locked shut.

When they reached the end and the stairs up to the sarcophagus, Carcharodon stopped.

"Loyal soldiers, " he addressed the men behind him, "you have given much to our Empire, and I have no right to ask you to give more." He turned to face them, "There are forces that wish us destroyed once more, not locked in endless eternity as punishment, but completely eradicated."

The soldiers stood stoic.

"The Federation that took our place in this Galaxy claim to keep order, equality, and peace. Yet everywhere we look we see isolated and crime ridden worlds, starving infants, and great strife."

Carcharodon held out his hand, the squad leader handing him the briefcase. Carcharodon unlocked and opened the case, revealing row upon row of small syringes with wildly diverse colours.

"What I am about to ask you is nothing short of giving up your humanity." Carcharodons voice became somber, "With one injection, you will become stronger, faster, smarter, but no longer truly human. Anyone not willing to go further, leave now. You will not be reprimanded."

None of the soldiers turned away. They knew the cost of their duty, and they were prepared to die for the Empire, and they would do what was necessary to bring it back to glory.

"Excellent." Carcharodon pulled out one of the syringes. It had an unnatural pale green glow, "With these powers, you, my Chosen Warriors, will have the strength to finally defeat the Power Rangers!"

 


	11. Chapter 11

James was jolted awake by sirens blaring both inside and outside the Academy. He sat up in the seat he fell asleep in and looked at the computer on the desk, roughly twenty-five pages worth of writing on the screen. With little enthusiasm, he stood and started walking to the command room.

After stumbling through the door, James was met with utter chaos. The technicians who usually did their assigned tasks in stoic silence were shouting into their headpieces numbers and positions James could barely understand. Aurora was standing at her usual station in the middle of the room, barking orders to anyone in earshot.

"What time is it?" James asked groggily.

"James!" Aurora spun in place to see him, "Where the hell is your team!?"

James noticed something he never saw in his commander before: fear. Aurora was panicking and it showed. Usually, even in the worst of situations, Aurora kept an air of efficient detachment, but now that air was broken.

"Uhh..." James hesitated, "I... don't know. We were writing that report you gave us and-"

"We don't have time for this!" Aurora pulled a headset off of a passing staff and held the microphone to her face, "Rangers! Get your asses to the command room NOW!"

"What the hell is going on?"

"We have reports that an entire armada of Empire vessels has just arrived in the solar system." Aurora said, "We've started evacuating civilians on the ground and the Federation Fleet is moving to intercept, but I have my doubts they are enough."

"Oh, damn." James finally woke up properly.

"We heard the coms." Nikea said as she entered. She looked just as tired and drained as James did. Behind her, Elizabeth entered followed by Morgan carrying Jayne over his shoulder, still asleep, "What's going on?"

"Well, we have a job to do." James pointed to the main screen in the room. On it was a map of the solar system, a dense cluster of dots on the edge.

"Wait..." Nikea remembered something, "My dad is an admiral for the Federation, where is he?"

"On his way with the Earth Defence Fleet." Aurora answered, "I'm putting you five under his command for the time being, so you need to get airborne."

The Rangers stood in place for a brief moment, trying to both understand what was happening and to wake up.

"Now!"

They turned and ran for the elevator to their zords. Morgan simply turned morpher Jaynes on for him, the energy being what woke him up. After a brief explanation on what had happened in the past ten minutes, the Power Rangers were up in the air. Several minutes passed before they saw the Federation ships.

The size and shape of the space faring ships were all designed for function over form. The majority of the main structure of each ship was built using a long segmented support beam with the weapons, compartments, and armour attached wherever necessary. The engines on the back of the ships were short but wide cylinders, blasting short bursts of neon blue exhaust.

"Unidentified craft!" said a voice over the radio, "State your identity and purpose. If not, we reserve the authority to use deadly force."

"This is Power Ranger team..." James hesitated, "Alpha, now I guess. We have orders from Commander Theresa Aurora to aid in the defence of Earth."

There was a small pause.

"Understood." The voice lost some of its edge, "Dock with the Capital Ship Stargazer port side."

"Okay!" James turned the radio off, "First hurdle avoided and we don't need to finish that stupid report."

James' joke received a small snicker from the others, but Nikea wasn't in the mood for jokes as much as her teammates.

"Would you shut the hell up, James!?" Nikea scolded, "We're supposed to be on a mission here!"

"Woah woah woah!" Jayne spoke up, "What got into you?"

"You shut it too, Jayne!"

"Hey, Nikea, what's wrong with you?" James demanded.

"Nothing." Nikea's tone was dismissive, "Let's just... dock or whatever..."

James guided the ship to the designated dock on the Stargazer, a little worried about Nikea. Once it was properly secured to the other ship, the Rangers disembarked. The Stargazer was buzzing with activity. Soldiers and Void sailors jogged up and down long corridors, only the gunmetal grey of the walls and floor as their backdrop. Clearly, the vessel was built for function over form.

Elizabeth held out her hand and grabbed the shoulder of a man as he ran by.

"Hey, buddy!" she greeted rather informally, "Where's the bridge on this boat?"

"Oh, wow!" the man was star struck, "You're the Power Rangers! Uh, yeah! Follow me."

"Well, thank you very much!" Elizabeth replied playfully.

The team followed their improvised guide through the halls of the vast ship, but Nikea dragged her feet and trailed behind visibly. James noticed this and stopped to let her catch up.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" James asked, making it clear he would not take silence as an answer.

"Well..." Nikea began, "...this will be the first time I've seen my dad in like, a year. Even then, I've only ever really seen him in formal settings."

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry." James was at a loss. He had no idea how to deal with this, "Well at least you have me?"

James mentally stabbed himself after realizing what he had just said. It was immeasurably fortunate that he had his helmet on, otherwise Nikea and anyone passing would see the bright nervous red his face was turning.

"You know," Nikea spoke up again, "It's not all that bad. I do have you guys."

James breathed a sigh of relief that the awkwardness passed.

A few minutes later, the group came up to the bridge. The doors to it looked as if they had been torn from a bunker designed to survive a direct blast from a nuke.

"Well, here we are, people!" the crewman said. He placed his hand on a small glass screen next to the door. After a small beep, the doors began hissing and sliding open. The inside was clear of clutter, only one person standing in the middle, facing the view screen on the other side of the room. Other crew members were along either side, working at their station with efficient silence. The Rangers stepped through, a few workers shooting a glance their way before returning to their task.

"Excuse us," James began as he approached the man in the middle, "We're Power Ranger Tea-"

"Team Alpha. I know." he said flatly, "I requested you hours ago. Has Theresa not taught you proper discipline?" The captain turned to face them. His face was set with deep features and a cleanly trimmed but thick moustache. His hair was cut short, only allowed a little length at the front where it jutted forward. He looked at the Rangers with a mix of disappointment and confusion. "Who are you? I requested Team Alpha."

"Allow me to explain, Captain," Morgan said as he stepped forward, "Due to unfortunate circumstances that occurred a few weeks ago, we have taken the place of Ranger Team Alpha."

"That doesn't answer my question, soldier." The Captain shot back, "I don't have time for rookies. Where is Team Alpha?"

"They're dead." Nikea said quietly from behind her team, "All of them. We're all that's left."

"Step forward, Miss!" The Captain ordered.

Nikea walked up to in front of the Captain, head held forward.

"Explain yourself, Yellow Ranger."

Nikea snapped to attention, right hand raised in salute, "Ranger Team Alpha, Yellow Ranger, Nikea Tarkov, Sir!" The Captains expression became softer for the briefest of moments, "Three weeks ago, all active Power Ranger teams were dispatched to a false distress beacon. They were all killed by the Empire. We five were held back, and thus survived." Nikea lowered her hand and stood back at attention.

"Nikea?" Captain Tarkov asked, "What are you doing here?" His face showed genuine concern for her, but he couldn't break his formal stance in such a situation.

Nikea, however, removed her helmet to see her father face to face. Her eyes showed nothing, only indifference.

"We are here because you requested help." Nikea answered. There was an awkward silence for a brief moment. Neither Nikea or Captain Tarkov moved and an uneasy atmosphere settled over those present.

Jayne leaned over to James. "What's the beef between them?" he whispered.

"That's her dad, Jayne." James whispered back.

"No shit?" Jayne said a little too loudly.

Elizabeth jabbed Jayne in the side, "Would you actually shut up for a bit? We're supposed to be working."

"Rangers." Captain Tarkov addressed all of them now, "You are to stay in the middle of the formation during the operation. Under no circumstances are you to break off and engage. Do I make myself clear?"

"What the fuck, dad!?" shouted Nikea, "You called us for help! We should be at the front!"

"You're stepping out of line, Yellow Ranger." Captain Tarkov said coldly, "You will avoid all fighting as much as possible. Do I make myself clear?"

Nikea was about to argue further before James stepped in and grabbed her shoulders, "Yes, sir! We'll stay back until you need us."

"I won't." Captain Tarkov turned back to his bridge staff, eyes set on the main window and the armada approaching.

The Rangers started to leave the bridge, Elizabeth and James half forcing Nikea with them. Soon, they were back in their Megazord and in the void, the central rocket that carried them keeping the Gunner Zord behind them. The Andromeda drifted into position at the heart of the Federation Fleet, and then stopped.

Nikea slammed her fist against the controls of her Zord, "Fuck this!"

"What's up with you and dear old dad?" Jayne asked.

"We should be at the head of this!" Nikea shouted, ignoring Jayne, "That's why we came here, right!?"

"I guess so," Jayne admitted, "But that doesn't really answer my question."

"Guys, just focus!" Elizabeth said, "The Empires ships should be coming into view now."

A few seconds later, the first ships of the Imperial Armada slipped into real space from faster than light speed. They bore the winged sword insignia of the Empire proudly across their hull. The majority of them were small escort vessels, the largest in the middle of the group being the heavily armed and armoured flagship. Even then, the Empire was outnumbered two to one.

"Those are the enemies we were required to face?" Morgan noted, "Captain Tarkov may be right in assuming he can handle this on his own."

The escort ships cleared an area in front of the flagship. Onboard, Carcharodon stood in a forward facing airlock with one of his Chosen Warriors.

"This is the point of no return, Soldier." Carcharodon said, "This is the last chance you have to go home. Nothing will be held against your name."

"The Federation destroyed my home, General." the soldier replied, "At least this way, I can give others hope."

"You do the Empire proud." Carcharodon said, "Hold them as long as you can. With your sacrifice, we may obtain the relic." He left the airlock, sealing it behind him, leaving only a waist high stand with a single syringe.

The soldier took the needle in his hand and breathed deeply. He turned to the window on the airlock door to see the other Warriors and nodded. The Warriors all saluted as well as Carcharodon.

The soldier turned back to the airlock proper and injected the syringe of glowing liquid into his arm.

"...Carpe... Stellas..." he spoke through strained breaths.

The doors opened and the soldier was shot into the void, constricting himself as he flew toward the enemy fleet. Wings ripped out through the back of his uniform as his muscles and bones hardened and grew. Within seconds, he grew to the size of a building with a wingspan hundreds of meters wide. His face and torso was coated in an organic metal, six glowing green eyes stared hatefully at his enemies.

"Oh..." James remarked, "...shit."

 


	12. Chapter 12

They Beast continued on its path through the silent void, arms spread and talons bared. Before the Federation fleet could even understand what had happened, the Beast landed on the bow of one of the frontline vessels and tore into it in a violent frenzy. The ship was completely destroyed in just a few seconds.

"What the hell just happened!?" Captain Tarkov demanded from his bridge staff.

"Uh... a... soldier from the enemy armada just... mutated. Sir." one of the officers stuttered out.

"Well, arm all batteries then!" Tarkov said, "We cannot let that thing get past our front!"

"Aye, aye, Captain!"

The ships closed rank around the Beast and fired upon it. The fire ball enveloped the creature for a brief instant, but it leaped from the cloud and latched onto the Stargazer.

"Dad!" Nikea shouted. She started undoing her safety harness and making her way to an escape pod.

"Nikea! What the hell are you doing!?" James asked.

"I'm getting my dad." Nikea sounded calm, yet determined to the pointed of being almost terrifying, "He's not leaving me again like this."

"Dammit Nikea!" Aurora said over the coms, "Even if you could cross that distance in a pod, you're breaking protocol and endang-"

Nikea pulled the communication bead from her helmet, silencing the protests of her comrades. She launched herself from the Andromeda Megazord and narrowly avoided being grabbed by it.

Onboard the Empires Capital Ship, Carcharodon was overseeing the battle from the bridge.

"Send the boarding parties." he ordered, "If they have the relic, it is of the highest priority. Keep risks to a minimum. Lethal force is authorized."

"Yes, General!" A soldier to Carcharodons right saluted and marched out of the room.

Outside, the Empires ships disgorged dozens of landing craft that swarmed the Federation fleet. They landed on each of the ships, at least five per vessel. The task was made easier for their occupants due to the Beast tearing openings for them.

"C'mon! C'mon! Can't this piece of crap go faster!?" Nikea complained.

Her pod hit the hull of the Stargazer and half buried itself in the metal. Nikea exited the now useless can and magnetized her boots, sticking to the hull. She ran across the ships armour toward the nearest lander. When she saw Empire soldiers stepping out, she hit her fist against her morpher. A small cluster of yellow digital code wrapped around her arms and solidified into a pair of metal fists. Along the forearms was printed 'Concussion Gauntlets mark III.'

The soldiers saw her sprinting towards them and levelled their assault weapons. Shots rang past Nikea as she ran. She jumped off of the hull at full speed toward the landing craft, pulling back her right fist as she flew.

Upon making contact with the Empire ship, and halo of blue energy expanded from Nikeas fist, rippling outward. The Empires soldiers were thrown off theirs footing and into space if they weren't pulverized by the initial blast. The lander shattered and exposed a breach in the Flagships hull.

"Holy shit..." Nikea said to herself. She jumped down into the ship and started making her way to the bridge.

Back out in the space battle, the rest of the Rangers were fighting off the Beast. The Beast swung its right talon across the Andromedas midsection. The Andromeda struggled to keep up with the Beasts speed, having taken several swipes to the torso and arms.

"Dammit!" Elizabeth cursed, "What the hell is she thinking!?"

"Focus on the battle at hand, Elizabeth." Morgan tried to reason, "We can talk to her later."

The Beast slashed at the Andromeda with its wings, tearing a gash in the torso and face. The Andromeda threw a punch the hit nothing as the Beast ducked under the swing. The Beast got behind the Megazord and impaled it in the back with its claws.

"Well, either way, if we don't pull a miracle out of nowhere fast we're screwed!" James said.

The Beast gripped the left arm of the Megazord and started squeezing.

"Morgan!" James shouted, "Get out of there!"

"I can see." Morgan observed as cracks started forming in his cockpit. He undid his harness and floated to the Red Carrier as fast as he could. The Pink Runner broke off from the Andromeda just as Morgan was secure in the torso, the Beast still clutching to it. The Orange Gunner Zord detached from the central rocket and flew over to the Andromeda. When the vehicle connected and transformed, Morgan got into his secondary Zord.

The Andromeda raised its weapon and fired. The Beast enclosed its wings over its body as a shield, small explosions of sparks riddling them. When the assault eased, the Beast glared from behind its shield.

"Well..." Jayne said, reclining in his seat, "We're boned."

Nikea sprinted down the halls of the Flagship, trying her best to recall the brief tour she had with her team. The occasional squad of Empire soldiers she came across was swiftly beaten down without mercy. Before long, the paint on her gauntlets knuckles started to chip from metal and blood. Eventually she made it within sight of the bridge doors.

A squad of Empire soldiers was at a standstill at the entrance, whoever was inside seemed to be putting up a strong resistance. Nikea hoped her father was there and still alive. He was alive. He had to be.

She launched herself down the hallway screaming. She buried her fist inside a soldiers chest before he even knew where the screaming came from. The others shot at her, but to little effect due to her Ranger suit. She tore the squad apart, never pausing of letting up. To the Empires credit, none of the soldiers ran or surrendered. They were disciplined and loyal, but that didn't stop Nikea.

When she finished, she stood at the entrance to the bridge, breathing heavily. Suddenly, she snapped back to reality.

"Dad!"

Nikea ran into the interior of the bridge. It was destroyed, gunfire had ripped through the computers and terminals of the room. An overturned metal table lay in the middle of the room, making a short barricade along with several crates and desks. Nikea jumped behind it and saw a grisly sight.

The bridge staff were slaughtered. Each had a rifle in hand and bullet casings strewn about. Blood pooled around them from the fresh wounds. It took a great amount of self control for Nikea to not break down.

"...Nikea..."

Nikea rushed to her father, who was slouched against the makeshift barricade with a shotgun in hand. She knelt by him, allowing her gauntlets to disintegrate into the digital code and be reabsorbed into her morpher.

"Dad..." Nikea struggled out, "...we... we have to get you out of here!"

Captain Tarkov pushed his daughter away from him weakly.

"There's no... point, Nikea." he mumbled, "You have... you have to leave."

"No!" Nikea protested, "Not without you!"

"You need to stop them... keep them out of... out of the storage vault."

"Why? What's there that's more important than your life!?"

"Just... just do it!" Captain Tarkov coughed up a small mouthful of blood, the wound in his chest opening up.

"Dammit, Dad! You are not dying here!"

Nikea bent down and draped her fathers arm over her shoulder. With little effort, thanks to her Ranger abilities, her supported his weight as they walked for the exit.

Captain Tarkov eventually accepted that his daughter would simply not listen to him. He let out a breath as the the pain abated for a moment. "Did you destroyed that monster yet?"

"Um... I left the Megazord before the fight actually started."

"You WHAT!?"

The Beast threw itself again at the weakening Andromeda, showing no signs of fatigue or injury. The Andromeda was admittedly slower than the newer models of Megazord, but it was getting slower and slower as fuel was burned and damage taken.

"Motherfucker!" James cursed as the Andromeda lurched to the left from another hit, "Commander! Can't you order the planetary defence turrets to blow this thing off of us!?"

"You're beyond the orbit of Mars, Red Ranger!" Aurora replied, "You're out of range and on your own for now. Wait... standby, Rangers."

"'Standby?' Ha!" Jayne commented, "What the hell does that mean!? What do you expect us to do!? It's not like this thing is gonna let us sit down for tea!"

"We're picking up an unknown vessel exiting FTL space. You would do well to keep your personal thoughts off of communications, Blue Ranger." Aurora scolded.

"Shit, I thought I turned it off."

The Beast was upon the Andromeda once again, punching into it with its unnatural strength. Before it could deal the final blow, a crack in reality opened on the outer edges of the space battle. Out of it poured dense lightning shrouding a vast black warship. It didn't have the modular design of the Federation nor the sloped armour of the Empire, but instead was built as a solid block with weapon arrays on either side near the back. The machine looked as if it had seen better days, but was bristling with guns and artillery pieces. The bow of the ship was made of two side by side rams that bore the icon of the Federation. In between the two rams was a gigantic barrel of a weapon that took up half the length of the ship itself. Just behind the bridge set into the hull was the number 10 printed in large military font.

The ship brought to bear a vast array of cannons along its port side. With deadly accuracy, the warship unleashed a massive volley of shells that tore into the Empires armada and even a few of the landing craft attached to the Federation ships.

"Um... James?" Elizabeth said, "What the hell is that?"

"That's the miracle we needed!" James smiled as he took control of the Andromeda.

With the Beast distracted by the arrival of the new threat, the Andromeda grabbed both its arms and planted its feet on the hull of the Federation Flagship. With great effort, the Andromeda threw the Beast upward and in front of the new warship. Apparently, whoever was in command of the black ship knew what James was planning and armed the primary weapon.

Beads of light and energy started spiralling into the end of the enormous gun. When the ball of energy reached a point of intensity that should not have been possible, it was sucked into the barrel.

A short moment passed. The Beast was directly in the line of fire. There was nothing but black behind it.

The gun erupted, shooting a wide beam of blinding white light out the front of the warship. The Beast was caught in the blast, vapourizing it instantly. When the light was all at once cut off, a large cloud of dust drifted away from the battle.

Carcharodon watched from the bridge of his Capital ship. A soldier jogged into the room, looking as if he had been in a firefight.

"General Carcharodon, sir!" the soldier stood at attention.

"Report." Carcharodon said, turning to face the man.

"Boarding party seven has returned with the relic, sir!" The soldier said proudly.

"Excellent." Carcharodon smiled warmly under his helmet, "Disengage all forces. Once the last of our remaining parties are onboard and the escort ships are at a safe distance, we make our way back to New Terra."

"Understood, sir!" The soldier ran out of the room to relay the orders, leaving Carcharodon alone to his thoughts.

"We will be together again, Ursa." he whispered to himself, "Just have patience. We are almost home."

Nikea was helping her father down one of the many halls of the ship when they noticed the Empire was disengaging. Captain Tarkov gazed out the window with horror as he saw them leave.

"No..."

"What? What is it?" Nikea asked.

Captain Tarkov pulled himself off of Nikea and hobbled as fast as he could down the hall.

"What!? What's wrong!?"

"They got it!" he shouted, "There's no way they would just leave a battle their winning if not!"

He got over to a wall mounted keypad next to a damaged door and punched in a series of code. With difficulty, the door ground open. Captain Tarkov fell to his knees and leaned against the door frame when he saw what was inside.

"Seriously! You need to stop before you hurt yourself!" Nikea said as she took off her helmet, "What the hell happened!?"

Captain Tarkov said nothing, but looked into the dark and lightly burned room. It was likely breached by an incendiary grenade.

"There's nothing there." Nikea said confused.

"This wasn't a storage room..." Captain Tarkov said sombrely, "...it was a prison."

The Andromeda floated up to face the Black Warship, which in turn disarmed the majority of its weapons.

"Sooo..." Elizabeth said over an open frequency radio, "...Do you come in peace?"

"Did you seriously just ask a giant flying shotgun if it came in peace?" Jayne mocked.

"Well, it helped us," Elizabeth reasoned, "maybe whoever's on board is here to fight the Empire."

The Empire armada began warping out of the area and immediately the Black Warship spun to make chase.

"Wait!" Elizabeth said, "Who are you!?"

There was no response as the ship shot into faster than light speeds in pursuit of the Empire.

"Dammit!" Elizabeth shouted.

"At least we know this newcomer fights the same cause as ours." commented Morgan, "Albeit rather violently."

"Guys!" James said, "We should probably help evacuate some of the more damaged ships. Nikea's still down there."

"Got it." Jayne said as he disconnected his Blue Fighter, "Wait. Did that thing have a '10' on it?"

"Yes?"

"Son of a bitch! I swear this is some cartoon somewhere!"

Back on New Terra several hours later, Carcharodon and a small squad of soldiers walked into the throne room. The soldiers carried with them a chained casket similar to the Emperors, but not as elaborate. On its face was the carved image of a bear, similar to the shark designs on Carcharodons armour. The men set the casket down and waited for further instructions.

"Have we successfully evaded that Black Ship?" Carcharodon asked.

"Yes, my lord." the squad leader answered. It was required to address the higher ranked members of the Empire by their proper and formal title in the presence of the Emperor, but that didn't mean Carcharodon liked it. He preferred his soldiers not to see him as a god, but as what humanity could become if it truly broke its chains.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. You are dismissed, return home."

The soldiers bowed, another of those traditions, and left. Once they were gone, Carcharodon removed his helmet for the first time since he escaped his cryogenic prison, and breathed deeply. Like Theresa Aurora, his face didn't show his age, although he was much older than her.

His dark grey hair was cut short and his features were strong, he appeared no older than forty. His face was both welcoming and commanded respect.

He faced the casket, raised his hammer and swung it down on the lid. The lock that chained the coffin closed was pulverized and the chains fell to the floor. He set the hammer down and put both hands on the lid. With the enhanced strength of both him and his armour, he pushed the slab of metal and stone loose. A rush of unnaturally cold steam blasted his face. Carcharodon pushed the lid the rest of the way off and let it hit the floor.

When he saw who was inside, he smiled and held out his hand. An armoured hand weakly reached out and took his.

"Welcome home, Commander Ursa."

 


	13. Chapter 13

The Rangers lounged in their rooms, having gotten permission to finally have their own, and took what time they had to rest. The past few days had been exhausting for them, having aided evacuation of the damaged Federation ships, searching the solar system for that black ship, and otherwise being needed in several places at once. However, what weighed heaviest on each of their minds was the ongoing investigation on who within the Power Ranger Academy was a sleeper agent. The investigation was kept as discrete as possible, the only ones knowing being the Rangers themselves, Aurora, and her Lieutenant.

Jayne was reading was reading through whatever files he had on whoever he knew. So far nothing turned up unusual or inconsistent. He was getting impatient and bored when a thought struck him.

What if it was one of them? The Rangers, that is? What if it was him? Could he kill these people if he was told? Would he care? Is this just a messed up cartoon?

Jayne stopped his twisted train of thought before he got too far, but the thought remained. He pulled up the files on himself and the other Rangers. Scrolling through his own record, nothing struck him as out of the ordinary. Jayne Smith: chess champion in high school, dropped out of military officer training to join the academy, and other things he already knew. Things started to seem off when he saw Nikeas file. Miss Tarkov apparently had the tendency to run away from home and was more or less forced here by her father to keep her in one place.

"Wow." Jayne muttered to himself, "What genuine fatherly love."

Next was Morgan. Simply put, it was completely different from Jayne's original impression of the guy. Morgan's original last name was not Seishin, but was instead Jones. He fought for quite a while in the MMA, but stopped after losing interest in violence. Jayne didn't take that at face value. After digging a little deeper, he came across a news report on Morgan. About eight years ago, Morgan killed a man in a fight. Of course, it was not intentional, Morgan simply punched too hard and broke the poor man's neck. Morgan then moved to Tibet to cope and started studying to be a Monk, but moved back to join the Academy after he received an epiphany for it.

Whatever that meant.

Jayne proceeded to James. It was honestly a little revealing about why he was a bit of a dick sometimes. Jayne joined at the age 14, youngest on record, and served as Blue Ranger for a year before losing his whole team and brother. James even operated the Blue Fighter Zord of the Andromeda Megazord. The guy probably still blames himself.

"Well, I feel a little... bad?" Jayne struggled for the word, "...guilty? Sad?"

Jayne just gave up and proceeded to Elizabeth's file. Elizabeth's past seemed normal at first: worked at her family's auto shop, studied engineering, graduated with honours, and other things that made her look cheery and perfect. But Jayne noticed something else. Elizabeth had a criminal record and included grand theft auto and armed robbery. Her statements after arrest made it clear she didn't want to, but needed to in order to keep her family out of debt. The Farlands lived under the heel of a Boston Mafia Boss, and therefore owed more than owned. Jayne felt genuinely bad for Elizabeth's family; joining the Academy was probably her only way of helping them.

Jayne closed his terminal and thought. Of course, the possibility remains that any of them were the sleeper, but there was no evidence for any of them. He found a little comfort in that.

The sirens blared throughout the Academy.

"Dear God," Jayne leaned back in his chair, "Do you find doing this to me funny?"

Jayne left his room and ran down the hallway to the hangar, meeting up with his team on the way. Surprisingly, Aurora was there waiting for them.

"Commander?" James asked, "What are you doing here? Where's the usual guy?"

"I gave him leave for the week." Aurora answered formally, "I need to speak with you before you proceed on your mission."

"What's up?" Elizabeth said, "Something about that black ship?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Aurora pulled up a holographic image of another Ranger, "This is Thomas Lorentus, fancies calling himself the 'Blackhole Ranger.'" The Ranger had a black suit with a similar appearance to the teams uniforms. It looked more militant and armoured compared to the more modern varieties, but kept the aesthetic of the current Federation. More accurately, it laid the foundation for the modern designs. "He stole a Megazord during the war and caused devastating collateral damage trying to be a vigilante."

Jayne looked more closely at the hologram.

"Is that like, a police badge on the forehead of the helmet?" Jayne asked.

"Yes, the suit was stolen from the Solar Tenth Divisi-"

"Wait... 'Ten?' As in the number on the black ship?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

Internally, Jayne was seething with frustration, but kept his outward appearance from reflecting that.

"You know what? Not going to go there right now. Let's just do our job."

The team morphed and launched in their zords. Once airborne, James activated his communicator.

"What is our destination, Commander?"

"Darius IV," Aurora instructed, "We believe there is another Warzord. Be careful, however. If we managed to find it, the Empire probably has as well like last time."

"Understood." James pushed a lever and the zords slipped into faster-than-light speeds. Only moments passed when they were thrown back into realspace.

The world they now orbited was rather developed. Cities stood proud on every horizon, the tallest spires rivalling mountains. The skies, despite the industry of Darius, were clear and bright. In all, Darius IV was a prosperous planet that exemplified the values of the Federation.

"Elizabeth," James said, "do a scan of the planet, see if the Warzord is near the surface or underground like the last one."

"You got it!" Elizabeth said, "I have something... not sure what it is, but it's big and in that city down there."

Elizabeth punched in a few lines of text into a console and almost immediately the visors of each Ranger lit up around one of the largest cities on the planet.

"Alright, we'll set the zords down at the city dock and start-" James was cut off by an explosion in the city. "Scratch that! We're dropping the Megazord from orbit!"

"Well, I lived a fulfilling life, why not?" Jayne muttered to himself.

The Rangers started their steep descent to the surface and formed the Andromeda Megazord. The great machine was already burning up when it fully formed and spun itself into a full dive.

"Are you sure this is best, James?" Morgan asked, genuinely concerned.

"Not really." James laughed halfheartedly.

When the city came into full view, James pulled back on the controls and flipped the Andromeda upright. The Megazord slammed down into the streets, taking care to cause minimal damage. Civilians were still present, running and screaming in panic away from the currently unseen threat. Before long, more and more people saw that the Power Rangers had arrived, and instead of screaming they cheered.

"Look at that!" Nikea looked out of her window, "They like us!"

"Nice to get a little recognition, isn't it?" Elizabeth reclined in her seat.

Just then, a thunderous footstep rumbled through the streets. The people started evacuating once again. Another beast, similar to the one from above Earth the day before, strode from behind a building. For its size, it was thin. Its arms were long and lanky, ending with serrated claws more akin to hacksaws. The torso was short and hunched over, bony spikes and plates covering all but the joints. The head was even more unsettling. Three teardrop shaped eyes in a triangle took the place of a face on a pale white head.

The Creature stopped and turned to face the Andromeda. It towered over the Megazord, staring down with a blank magenta gaze.

It did nothing.

It didn't even raise its hand to strike.

Suddenly, without warning, the Creature jumped from a standing position at the Andromeda. Both behemoths were tossed backward, scraping up road and concrete. While in tumble, the Andromeda managed to kick the Creature off, hitting it against a building. The Andromeda landed on its back in what was probably the town square, thankfully free of bystanders.

"Dammit!" James cursed, "What do we do?"

Before anyone could offer an idea, the Creature landed on the Andromedas chest from almost nowhere. It drew back its arm in order to puncture the faceplate with its knife-like fingers, but just as the tips of the blades were inches from James' cockpit, the hand was caught by Jayne's Fighter Zord.

"Christ, that was close!" Jayne breathed out.

The Creature thrashed in hatred. The Andromeda was jerked back and forth, struggling to hold the monster in one place. The Creature suddenly stopped all movement.

"Wait a minute..." Jayne's eyes went wide.

Slowly and deliberately, the Creature's other hand wrapped around the Blue Fighter.

"...this sucks."

The Blue Fighter was torn violently from the Andromeda's torso and sailed over the city. Jayne tried frantically to transform his vehicle into a moderately more useful jet, but was too late.

"DAMMIT!" Jayne shouted. He ejected from the jet just as it crashed into the skyline.

Jayne crashed through the windows of what appeared to be an office building, apparently devoid of inhabitants.

"Small blessings, I guess." Jayne sighed.

The floor collapsed under him as the foundations were taken out from his vehicle. Thinking quickly, and rather profanity rich, Jayne jumped from the window down to the streets below.

Jayne landed hard into a roll. Once he got his footing, he started sprinting.

But something stopped him.

He heard crying.

He looked around and saw that a little girl sat next to her mother, whose legs were trapped under some rubble. It was clear that they were abandoned by the other civilians. The mother was trying her best to make her daughter leave her, but the stubbornness of children is stronger than self preservation.

"Fuck me..." Jayne said as he sprinted over to them.

Jayne stopped between them and the falling building. With his enhanced strength, he lifted the stone slab from the mother's legs and threw it aside. He helped the woman to her feet and held the child over his shoulder. After not even a full step, the mother collapsed in pain.

Jayne thought.

There was no time to get them out.

The building was approximately forty meters from them now.

He could escape, but only if he left them.

Thirty meters.

The others were too busy with the Creature to help.

Twenty meters.

If he tried to help them, all three of them would be crushed.

Ten meters.

A dozen further possibilities ran through Jayne's mind. There was no way for him to save them. If he was going to, he needed to do the impossible. The mother held onto her child, tears running down both their faces.

Jayne spun to face the building, raised his hands, and braced for impact.

The skyscraper hit the pavement with a deafening boom, Jayne and the two with him directly under it.

 


	14. Chapter 14

Jayne's ears were ringing, his vision hazy, and his body hurt all over. In spite of the rather uncomfortable things he was going through, it was evidence that he was still alive at least. With a thought, the side mounted flashlights on his helmet lit up. He was under the collapsed tower in a small chamber in the rubble. Once the dust in the air was thin enough to see through, he realized he was holding up the roof of the chamber.

"Holy crap..." Jayne muttered, amazed at himself, "I actually did it..."

He tried to ease the pressure on the roof, but that only caused chunks of debris to fall from the walls along with new plumes of smoke and dust.

"Okay," Jayne reapplied pressure to the ceiling, "That's out of the question."

"Are you a Power Ranger?"

"What?" Jayne looked down to see the girl. She was covered in a layer of dirt and aside from mildly concerning scrapes appeared unharmed, "Um, yeah. I am."

"Are you going to save us?"

"I'm gonna try!" Jayne tried to sound as confident as possible, "My name's Jayne. What's yours?"

"Mira."

Back out in the City, the Andromeda Megazord was in an uncomfortably familiar situation, fighting off a monster with only one arm.

"James!" Morgan said, "I have called down the Gunner, but it will take a few minutes to get here."

"That's fine!" James said almost dismissively, trying to keep balance while fighting the much faster Creature, "We just need to stay alive, so no biggie!"

The Creature jumped from building to building before leaping down on the Andromeda. With a right hook, the Megazord hit the Creature aside and onto it's back.

"This thing needs structure to fight." Elizabeth noted, "We should get to a clearing or field before the Gunner gets here."

The Andromeda turned and ran down the streets of the city toward the nearest clearing. The Creature got down on all fours and ran after it. The Andromeda only made it a few strides before the Creature was on top of them again.

"Where is your mom?" Jayne asked looking back and forthcoming for the woman.

"Behind you." Mira pointed past Jayne's leg, "I think she's sleeping."

When he realized what that might mean, Jayne started to panic, "Wait wait wait! Put your hand gently to her neck, tell me if you feel a beating!"

"Okay," Mira walked past Jayne and out of his vision. A tense moment of silence passed, "I can feel a beating. Is that good?"

"Oh, thank God..." Jayne sighed, "Yes, that's good. I need you to help me get us out of here, okay?"

"Okay," Mira sounded unsure, "What do I do?"

Jayne looked around at the chamber walls. Nothing seemed stable, which meant that either one slip of his hand could kill all three of them or it could open their way out. Upon careful inspection more akin to guessing, Jayne picked a section of the wall in front of him.

"Take the gun from my belt and aim it just in front of me at the wall."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Mira hesitantly took the sidearm from its holster, "Now what?"

"Point it at the wall in front of me and pull the trigger."

"Are you sure?" Mira asked, sounding scared.

"Yes." Jayne lied.

"Okay..."

Mira held the pistol out in front of her with both hands shaking. She pulled the trigger and was pushed back slightly by the recoil. The bolt impacted the wall with a boom.

When the dust cleared, Jayne noticed that he had guessed correctly, and a new opening with a small ray of light shining in.

Jayne thought that maybe God wasn't his personal game show host.

"Alright, Mira? Are you still there?" he asked.

After a few coughs, she responded, "Yeah..."

"I need you to get your mom out of this room, okay?"

"I'll try..."

Mira disappeared from Jayne's sight once again and he could hear her struggling to move her unconscious mother. A few moments passed in uneasy silence, then Mira stepped back in front of Jayne, looking exhausted, "I can't do it."

"Yes you can!" Jayne said a little more forcefully than he intended, "You have to!"

Jayne felt a jerk in his body as the ceiling of the room trembled.

"What's happening!?" Mira screamed.

Jayne steadied the weight above him and the tremors stopped, "My arms... they're starting to give..."

"What does that mean...?" Tears started to form in the corner of Mira's eyes.

"It means I'm not going to be able to hold this up much longer."

"I'm scared." Mira was crying at this point.

"I know..." Jayne's voice lowered, "...but you have to ignore that. You need to be your own Power Ranger now and get your mom out of here."

Mira wiped her tears, "I'll try..."

"You will."

The Andromeda lunged to the side, making the Creature land face first into the pavement. While the monster writhed on the ground, the Andromeda kept running.

"Look!" Elizabeth shouted, "There's the Gunner!"

The Andromeda looked up to the sky as it ran. A bright flaming streak sailed through the sky, making a burning trail towards the Rangers.

"Okay, we're almost in the clear," James said, "Just a couple more seconds, guys!"

The Andromeda stopped in the clearing and waited. The Creature was back to sprinting on all fours down the streets, the blank face staring at them with three eyes that still radiated hatred and primal rage. It was only a few strides away when the Gunner came flying out from behind the Megazord.

The Andromeda slammed its empty shoulder socket against the hull of the orange war machine. The Gunner transformed into an arm with a chorus of grinding gears and hissing pistons. The Megazord opened fire even before the Gunner was fully secured, showering the Creature with disciplined volleys of lead.

The Creature was knocked back from the assault, being blown to and across the ground sprawling. It managed to get to its feet, using its size over the Andromeda to absorb the onslaught. Using its arm as an impromptu shield, the Creature started a slow laboured walk toward the Andromeda.

"Where the hell is Jayne?" James muttered to himself.

Mira was losing strength while moving her mother. She was nowhere close to strong enough to do it effectively on her own, and the depleting oxygen in their cramped cave did nothing to help.

"I'm... tired..." Mira said through long breaths. She had made it within a few meters of the opening before near collapsing.

"You need to keep going!" Jayne said, the weight on his shoulders growing more and more painful, "You can't stop now!"

Mira tried to respond, but could only manage a mumbled slur as consciousness drifted away.

Jayne panicked. What could he do? If Mira fell asleep, there was probably no chance she would wake up. If she stayed awake, she would probably die anyway from suffocation.

Jayne thought.

Nothing could really be that much worse from his position.

Then he had it.

Jayne disabled the external speakers of his helmet so Mira wouldn't know what he was about to do.

"Vent remaining O2 reserves." Jayne ordered his suit.

"Acknowledged." a robotic voice replied.

The breathing tubes on the backpack of Jayne's suit disconnected and hissed out oxygen. It was a few seconds before he could hear Mira breathing easier. She stood up again, oblivious to what Jayne had done, and continued carrying her mother. The two of them collapsed outside of the chamber, safe from the rubble that would have crushed all three of them if Jayne failed. He closed the pipes on his oxygen, noting that he had maybe two minutes left of breathable air.

The Creature was inching its way towards the Andromeda with palpable fury.

"I think we're running empty!" Elizabeth shouted, "I don't think we can keep this up!"

"We have to!" James shouted back.

The Gunner started to sputter, the spinning barrels slowing down.

"Well..." James said to himself.

The Gunner finally spun to a halt, the barrels glowing a bright red. The Creature noticed this immediately, gazing at the Andromeda with what might be called a predatory hunger.

"...we're boned."

Jayne pushed the ceiling of the chamber up with what strength he had left. After a brief pause to compose himself, he let go.

He ducked down to give himself as much time as possible and sprinted to the exit, the building over him falling the entire time. He jumped out of the small opening and landed with a skid across the gravely floor. The ceiling he had been holding up fell in on itself with a deafening boom, throwing up a dense cloud of dust.

"Warning: oxygen levels critical. Seek breathable atmosphere immediately." the computerized voice in Jayne's helmet said.

Jayne ignored it and struggled to his feet. He hoisted Mira onto his back and held her mother in his arms as he started slogging up the incline to the ray of light. It felt like hours, but he made it there to see the light was shining through the glass of some window.

Jayne set the two with him on the ground before ramming his shoulder into the glass. It cracked slightly, but far from enough to break it. He tried again, but got the same result. Over and over, he kept trying to break the glass to no avail.

He finally took his helmet off, desperate for breath, but there was none.

He leaned against the near shattered glass and started to black out. He had just closed his eyes when the the glass felt like it would give way.

The window broke inwards and flooded the small cave with air. Jayne gasped and sat up again.

"I... hate... my... job..." he said between breaths.

He looked around at the new area, seeing that it was some kind of basement that was opened up to the surface. But this was too big to be some basement of an office building. It had parapets, loading docks, fuel tanks, and empty hangars and launch bays.

One of the bays, however, still held a vehicle. To Jayne's painful annoyance, the number 7 was printed in slightly faded military font on the wall just above the machine.

Jayne looked up at the sky with his arms at either side of him in the universal 'why?' gesture.

The Andromeda was on the back foot, having resorted to using the barrels of the Gunner as a makeshift club in an attempt to beat the Creature into submission, but the Creature weaved and dodged out of the way of any attack.

"Dammit!" Nikea exclaimed as the Creature swept the right leg of the Andromeda out from under it.

The Megazord landed with a painful crash. The Creature crawled on top of it, pinning down the arms. It held its right arm high over its head and pulled its fingers into something like a serrated spike.

"Guys..." James said, "...I'm sorry I let you down again."

"Again?" Morgan asked, confused.

The Creature was about to throw it entire weight into a stabbing plunge when it's chest exploded and was sent falling backwards to the ground.

"What the hell!?" James sat the Megazord up and looked behind it.

A navy blue ship similar to the Green Shuttle Zord was flying to their position and breakneck speeds. Small canisters broke off from under it and flew even faster at them. The bombs hit the Creature hard and exploded, tearing at the bone armour of its skin.

"Well, what'd I miss?" Jayne asked over the radio.

"Damn," Elizabeth smiled, "Am I glad to hear your voice!"

"Get the Andromeda standing! I have a plan!"

"Do you?"

"Shut up, Elizabeth!"

James got the Andromeda to its feet, disconnecting to Gunner on its right shoulder and letting it hit the ground. The Bomber flew up from behind the Megazord just as the Gunner did, and within seconds the Zord formed an arm. The wings folded up to form a blast shield while the cockpit spun around into a hand that held a heavy pistol style grenade launcher.

"Let's just kill this thing and get home." Jayne said impatiently.

"It has a 7 on it, doesn't it?" Nikea mocked.

Jayne was silent, but was screaming in his own mind.

The Creature was getting up, having only been angered further by the barrage, and jumped into the air at the Megazord. The Andromeda reacted quickly, raising its new arm to fire a glowing blue shell into the cracks of the Creatures armour. The Andromeda turned to protect itself behind the blast shield.

The Creature exploded violently into dense, dry, clusters of bone and organic metal.

Around the field, the people of Darius had heard the explosion and subsequent silence and came out to see who had won the battle. There, standing in their city, was the Andromeda Megazord, standing triumphant over the smoking remains of the Creature.

One by one, the citizens started cheering and clapping.

"Maybe I don't hate my job." Jayne mused.

Hours later, the Rangers were helping to set up a relief camp near the building that fell from the Blue Fighter crashing into it. The Zord itself had been retrieved by Federation ships for repairs, so the area was relatively safe.

"So..." Morgan attempted to summarize the story Jayne had told him as they walked, "...you caught a building?"

"Yes. I did." Jayne said proudly.

"I don't think you did." Morgan laughed.

"Why's that?"

Morgan just stopped walking and gestured to the surroundings.

"Touché." Jayne admitted, "But I still helped a little girl and her mother. She told me she wanted to meet the Pink Ranger."

"I'd love to meet her." Morgan smiled.

After a few more minutes of walking by tents and field hospitals, the two of them came up to a cot with Mira's mother sleeping in it, several IVs connected to her arms and brace around her neck. Mira was on a chair next to the bed, asleep as well.

Jayne walked over and knelt next to Mira.

"Hey!" Jayne whispered loudly, "Hey, Mira! Wake up!"

Mira's eyes opened sluggishly, but she bolted upwards when she saw Jayne and Morgan, going straight to talking to the latter.

Jayne felt a pressure on his arm and looked down to see Mira's mother holding his hand.

"Thank you..." she said quietly.

Carcharodon stood in the throne room with Ursa in front of the Emperors sarcophagus.

Commander Ursa wore armour similar to Carcharodon, but was a dusty brown instead of grey. Her armour lacked the large shell of a torso section that Carcharodon had, opting instead for a less extravagant style. The metal bore the same tribal markings, with only slight variations.

Over her shoulders and helmet was a bear pelt with dark brown and tan fur. She carried with her two heavy war axes, both on her belt.

She was, politically, lower than Carcharodon, but to any and all that saw the two together knew they were warriors of equally destructive power.

"I have missed you, Ursa." Carcharodon smiled under his helmet.

"And I you." Ursa said back. Her voice was reserved, showing little emotion, but betrayed genuine kindness to the General next to her.

"Let us begin."

The two of them kneeled in front of the casket, Carcharodon setting his hammer on the floor.

"Officium, Honoris, Ordo." they said in unison.

"Commander Ursa has returned to us, my Emperor," Carcharodon began, "with her, we come one step closer to the Empire returning to its proper place and glory."

"My Emperor," Ursa continued, "While imprisoned by the Federation, I have learned many of their secrets."

The eyes of the coffin glowed.

"The Rangers they have now are not trained properly, they bicker like children, and they lack the ability to work effectively. We can use this. You can activate the sleeper when they believe themselves safe, break them from the inside out."

The glowing intensified greatly and Ursa lowered her head further.

Ursa recoiled, "I know, My Emperor. It is not our place to question your plans."

"We have taken several more worlds, My Emperor." Carcharodon interjected, "Everyday, the borders of the Empire expand. You will be well received upon your true return."

The glow eased.

"Understood, My Emperor." Carcharodon bowed his head.

"Carpe Stellas." The two proxy leaders of the Empire said as they stood.

 


	15. Chapter 15

Theresa Aurora paced impatiently in her office.

It had been almost a week since the attack on Darius IV and the governing body of the Federation was putting responsibility on her for answers and solutions. Faith in the Ranger Program dropped drastically after the slaughter a few months previous, but was slowly climbing back up since the successes of James and his team.

That wasn't enough for the higher ups.

To them, too many resources were being drained by a now mostly empty academy and by poorly trained, bottom of the barrel Power Ranger rookies. Public support meant very little if the funding was already cut.

On top of that, planets on the very edges of the Federation were either being occupied by the Empire or outright seceding to join them. As it stood right then, the Federation still stood as the largest faction in the Galaxy. The Empire was expanding steadily, but only controlled roughly a quarter of what the Federation held. The last half of the Galaxy was divided rather haphazardly by no less than fifty independent alien republics and interstellar kingdoms. Most knew of the war brewing between the resurgent Empire and the Federation but chose to remain neutral, others Aurora expected to seize the opportunity to claim more territory stayed on the sidelines, likely waiting for one to destroy the other and take what was left.

The government did not like these numbers, especially when the Federation lost its most effective peacekeeping force.

Aurora stopped pacing and slumped into her chair.

"What the hell are we gonna do?" she asked no one in particular.

"Do what?"

Aurora jumped slightly in her seat, not expecting any answer. Looking up, she saw her Lieutenant was standing in the doorway.

"Nothing..." Aurora muttered after catching her breath, "...it's nothing, Max. Nothing."

Maximilian Vos had been Auroras lieutenant for no less than ten years. He was loyal and likely the only person left that Aurora could trust.

"Alright then," Max walked into the office, closing the door behind him, "I know you're under stress. No one can blame you."

"Thanks." Aurora slouched over her desk, face in her hands.

"In brighter news," Max began, sounding a bit more chipper, "We recently received a response from the Nueran Collective. They say that the Federation can use a certain number of their outlying planets for temporary military installations under the condition that we provide protection and compensation."

"That's..." Aurora breathed out, "...great. Can you get James in here? I need to ask him a few questions."

"Understood, Commander." Maximilian turned and left the room, leaving Aurora to her thoughts. A few minutes later, James walked into the room. He looked rather disheveled, probably just woke up.

"You called, Commander?" James greeted.

"Yes," Aurora put on her most professional persona, "I would like you and your team to go to the Nueran Collective and see what facilities they can offer us. Specifically, we want stable lands that can be well defended. We need that space, James. Don't let me down."

"We won't, Commander!" James halfheartedly saluted with an almost mocking smirk.

"Just go!" Aurora had to put her hand over her face to keep herself from grinding her teeth. James left casually and walked to the dorms he and his team lived at.

James thought as he walked. He had heard of the Nuerans, of course, but he never really met one. Apparently they were stubborn in their beliefs but maintained non hostile relations with their neighbours. This would be the first time they attempted diplomacy with a faction outside their immediate borders.

James was pulled back into reality when he bumped full force into someone at a hallway intersection. Paperwork and various files spilled to the floor in a messy pile.

"Ah, dammit!" they cursed lightheartedly.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" James bent down and started collecting the papers off the floor, "Let me help you."

"Thanks," the man acknowledged, doing the same, "I'm sorry I bumped into you! You're probably on your way to a mission, I can do this, you go."

"No, it's fine." James stood up with the other man and handed him a stack of papers, "But yeah, I do need to get going."

"Don't worry about it!" the man held the files close and started back on his rather hurried walk, "Good luck on your mission, buddy!"

James waved slightly as he continued down the hall, "Thanks, you... too?"

He put his hand down sheepishly when he realized how awkward he sounded.

A few more minutes passed and the other man took a sharp turn. He ended up at what appeared to be a blank wall, but when he tapped a specific section on it, a panel opened into a small room. The room was outfitted with a small cot and a desk. On the desk was a heavily modified terminal with wires and cables pouring out of its sides and back like a tangled cobweb of buzzing electronics.

The man glanced behind him one last time before closing himself inside. He threw the papers on the cot and sat in front of the glowing screen of the terminal. He typed in a password.

A tense second passed as the screen went blank with a dark emerald green glow. A sentence formed at the top of the window.

"Is it done?"

The man breathed in relief before typing a response.

"Yes, My Emperor, the tracker was placed on the Red Ranger."

"Were you seen?"

"No, My Emperor, I was not caught and the evidence is being destroyed now."

"Good. Return to your position in the Federation and wait for when I have further use of you."

"Understood, My Emperor. Carpe Stellas."

The screen abruptly went dark once again. The man stood up and left the small room, ensuring there was no way anyone could see that there was a door there.

He walked away a number of paces before staggering slightly. He started blinking rapidly, rather confused by the sudden feeling. He stood up straight and looked around, completely forgetting why and how he was there. Ignoring the feeling, he continued walking to the control room and his post.

James was at the door of his room when he heard laughing coming from the room down the hall. Curious, he wandered over. The door was ajar slightly and light was coming out. Peeking in, he could see Jayne and Elizabeth sitting on the floor in front of a TV playing some fighting game, of which Jayne was getting beaten pretty badly.

"No no no no NONONONO!" Jayne shouted as Elizabeth killed his digital self with an elaborate combo.

"And that, Jayney-boy..." Elizabeth laughed as she poked her opponents nose, "...is how it's done!"

James felt himself snicker a bit too. Elizabeth and Jayne both turned to see James standing at the door.

"Sup, Jimmy?" Elizabeth asked.

"We got a mission," James tapped the doorframe for emphasis, "Seen Nikea anywhere?"

Elizabeth smirked, "In her room, playing on her own as per usual."

"Alright then," James spun away from the door and left.

Elizabeth leaned over to Jayne and whispered rather loudly, "I ship it."

Hours later, the core rocket that was the central dock to the zords was flying through the empty void of space toward their destination. The Rangers onboard were figuratively, and some literally, bored to watching paint dry. Morgan had brought with him a case of paints he used for small pieces he made of space phenomena, Jayne had fallen asleep no more than two hours after launch, and Elizabeth occupied herself with a book.

James felt anxious with the silence. He felt that if had no one to talk to, he'd drive himself mad. Finally, he undid his harness and got up from his seat. He walked over to where the Red Carrier connected to the central rocket and opened the hatch. Inside the tube that made the hub between the various zords, the artificial gravity didn't really work, as it pulled everywhere at once.

He floated about in this space for a moment, enjoying the simple entertainment of zero gravity. After another jump from one end to the other, he stopped himself at the hatch to the Yellow Crawler Zord. He pulled himself inside the vehicle and over to the cockpit. James was about to just walk in when he thought better and knocked.

There was a bit of chaos behind the door and James thought he heard something hit the floor. A second later, the door cracked open and a yellow helmet peeked out from behind it.

"James!?" Nikea exclaimed, opening the door the rest of the way, "What the hell are you doing here!? You scared the shit out of me!"

"Yeah, sorry..." James smiled as he tried to rub the back of his head, but gave up when he realized his helmet was on, "...can I come in?"

"Why?" Nikea inquired. She likely knew the answer, but just wanted confirmation.

"I have no one to talk to," James said, "I guessed since you're the only one not really doing anything right now we could talk but if you don't want to that's fine, I'll just go back to my zord-" James' speech was getting faster with nervousness. Eventually, Nikea took pity on him and stepped out of the way, letting him in.

"Thanks." James said quietly.

"Don't mention it." Nikea replied. She walked back over to her chair and took her helmet off, picking up her portable gaming device, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Uh..." James looked around for something to sit on, eventually resigning himself to sitting on the floor, "...I guess just anything, really."

"That's not a lot to go on." Nikea mocked, not looking up from her device.

"I know," James took his helmet off as well, setting it next to him, "I'm not good with long periods of silence." He chuckled to himself, "You know, my brother and I, we used... to..."

Nikea noticed James' sudden silence.

"Yeah? What did you do?" she asked.

James was still quiet, but swallowed the lump in his throat and continued.

"A little over five years ago, my brother and I were Power Rangers. I was Blue and he was Green." James explained, "On our first assignment that took us off Earth, we were shot down and... well... he pushed me into an escape pod. He didn't make it."

Nikea was at a bit of a loss for words, "I... don't know what to say. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

James laughed, "Don't be. The Commander actually called me in because Morgan took the wrong morpher! I was supposed to be a stand in for a while."

"To be fair, none of us took the right one." Nikea smiled in spite of herself.

"Wait..." James sat up, looking out the windshield of the Crawler, "...what is that?"

"What is what?" Nikea followed his gaze.

Outside, a planet was coming into view. It's surface looked bare, stripped down to the bedrock in all but a few areas. The only signs of life were about four or five dense concentrations of lights on said sections of land not torn up. They were to bright not to be cities, but at the same time they were far too scattered from one another.

"Is that where we're headed?" Nikea asked.

James checked the clock on the inside of his helmet, "No, we're still almost two hours out. This planet shouldn't even be here!"

Suddenly, the ship was rocked violently sideways by an unknown force. James fumbled with his helmet and put it back on, Nikea doing the same.

"James!" Jayne's voice came over the comms, "What the hell was that!?"

"I don't know!" James shot back.

Another hit threw James and Nikea to the floor. The ship was now careening to the surface of the unknown planet, the windows already showing the distinctive flashes of reentry.

"Elizabeth! Spin us around and slow us down!" James ordered.

"Got it!" Elizabeth jerked her controls to her the right. The Green Shuttle forced the ship to align right using thrusters along its side, but something went horribly wrong. A third hit, even more powerful than the two previous, tore the central rocket apart. The seven zords and the Rangers fell from high orbit, creating long and blinding streaks of light across the sky. James felt the blood rush from his arms and legs to his head as he was pressed against the back wall along with Nikea.

As his hand was flattened against the metal, James felt a new, softer, pressure on it. He looked to his left to see Nikea was holding his hand desperately. He couldn't see through her helmet's black polarized visor, but he knew she was just as terrified as he was.

Suddenly, the world went dark.

The next thing James knew, he was lying on the ground outside. The sky was a deep blue with scattered clouds, the soil under him was soft with grass, and his head hurt like a bitch.

He sat up and noticed that he was a good twenty meters from the Yellow Crawler Zord crash site. The vehicle itself was relatively intact, only some bent, warped, or missing struts and tread links. It could still be used in the Andromeda if need be.

Nikea was standing next to the treads when she saw James sit up. As soon as she did, she ran over to him and pulled him into an embrace.

"You're okay!" she exclaimed, "I pulled you from the Zord! You were unconscious! I thought you might've been in a coma!"

"Stooooooooooooop..." James complained, both annoyed and embarrassed, "...let me go... please..."

"Sorry!" Nikea let go of James and sat next to him, "Do you feel alright?"

"Just a splitting headache. Where're the others?"

"I got in contact with them, they're fine and so are their zords. They're on their way here now."

"Okay then..." James looked past the crash site and could see the Runner, Fighter, and Shuttle zords crest the hill, dragging the Gunner, Bomber, and Carrier behind them respectively.

Ones they arrived, Morgan hoped out of his vehicle with a medical kit, the central band on the top of his helmet white with a red cross. He knelt down in front of James and took the red helmet off of him. Aside from a few cuts and maybe one serious gash, he was fine.

"Are you in any pain, James?" Morgan asked while bandaging James wounds.

"Just... everywhere." James laughed slightly, "One hell of a headache, though."

"Well, you seem to be speaking fine. It might be just that or a concussion, I don't know. We should get going."

"What's all this now?" Elizabeth mused as she and Jayne arrived, "Fearless Leader's got a booboo?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Morgan said, "I recommend we don't stay here to find out."

The sound of heavy thumping vibrated through the ground and air.

"The hell is that?" Jayne asked to no one in particular.

"Halt!" The Rangers spun around to see a tall robotic knight on a massive mechanical steed. His armour seemed both Renaissance and Victorian, but mostly like medieval Europe and German style. He carried a lance easily twelve meters long and a shield bearing a crest that looked like a lion made of clockwork.

"You are under arrest for trespassing on the Kings land!" he bellowed in a metallically muffled voice.

"Alright." James laid back down on the ground, "I don't even care anymore."

On the other side of the continent, Carcharodon and Ursa stepped out of a landing craft with a detachment of Imperial Soldiers, including Carcharodon's Chosen Warriors.

"Report." Carcharodon ordered, "Is this the planet the Rangers are on?"

A soldier wearing a backpack with an antenna on it marched up to the General, "We believe so, Sir. The tracker placed on the Red Ranger stopped transmitting in orbit. We believe they were shot down."

"Then let us find them," Ursa drew her twin axes, "No sense waiting around for them, is there?"

"Indeed." Carcharodon held his hammer in both hands now, "Start the landings here. I want a base of operations up and running by sundown."

"Yes, Sir!" The Soldiers all responded in unison before going into their tasks.

"Let the hunt begin." Carcharodon smiled under his helmet.

"Just like the old days, eh?" Ursa laughed in kind.

The two commanding officers started walk to the horizon, a small retinue with them.

In high orbit, the Empire's Flagship _Glorious End_ disgorged hundreds of landers, all carrying dozens of soldiers and their equipment.

On the other side of the planet, however, a new ship shot out of FTL.

The relatively antiquated black warship hovered over the surface for a moment, as if contemplating simply leaving, before descending to the planet. The words on the side were worn but still legible.

The _Event Horizon_.

 


	16. ow the edge

To the like, 40 people who read this... yikes, I'm so sorry you had to read this.

What an edgy boi I was when I wrote this.

Anyway, this work will be officially put on a hard break until my other work is done. Whether that means I will continue this with objectively better writing than 16 year old me or I straight up punt this abomination into the sun I'll decide later after a sandwich.

-SeeTheGuyPerson


End file.
